Big data: what can the internet tell us about who we really are? – Science Weekly podcast

In an age where Google sees trillions of searches a year, what can our usage of it reveal? How accurate are these 'big data' representations? And how might this all be used for the greater good?

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Pokemon Go, the iPhone 7, and Donald Trump. These were 2016's most searched for terms on Google. And with over a trillion searches to draw on, it's clear that they reflect what's on our minds. But can Google searches tell us even more about ourselves? By pooling together huge aggregates of our search history - a form of "big data" - can Google reveal our deepest, darkest desires? And what can big data tell us more broadly about the human condition?