Every time we type our name, birthday, address, favorite color, or so on into another pesky field, we don’t ponder its future or how it will be used. Signing up for a website? A joke a day? Ordering something from a sketchy looking site? We take these “free” services for granted and up until recently when Facebook privacy settings began to surface, we did not even give it a second thought. In “Paying with Data: How Free Services aren’t free,” Presenters Arvind Narayanan, Julia Angwin, San Yagan and Sara Marie Watson explain the perils of data driven product placement.

Sara Marie Watson (@SMWat) works at Brightcove, where she manages their inbound marketing content strategy and is also a Lead researcher for the Web Ecology Project where they study quantized social interaction. She has an impressive resume behind her including a joint degree in English and American Literature and Film Studies from Harvard. I had a chance to her a few questions about her upcoming panel, SXSW and some tips for females (like me!) trying to get into the field.

How did you hear/get involved at SXSW?

“If you follow the tech world at all, it’s pretty hard to miss SXSW. The hashtags proliferate.”

Is this your first time at SXSW?

“Nope, last year was my first time. I had such a great time meeting people who were excited and passionate about their work, that I had to go back again, so I submitted my panel idea.”

What are you planning to get out of your SXSW experience?

“’I’m excited by the opportunity to share some of my ideas in a very public forum. The panel is a chance for me to pull together things I’ve been thinking about user data online for a while, and we have an stellar set of people on the panel to tease things out further.”

Any panels/ people you want to see at SXSW?

“You’re Dead, Your Data Isn’t: What Happens Now? – Ties in well with my panel, and similar to Victor Mayer-Schoenberger’s book Delete, which I enjoyed and inspired my panel.

Internets, How Do They Work? Lessons from ROFLCon Memes are awesome, and these cool people are my friends.

Can The Internet Make Us Happy? I’m always interested in technologies’ effects on society.

Sleeping at Internet Cafes: The Next 300 Million Chinese Users I want to learn more about a non-US centric view of the internet, and I’d love to meet Tricia Wang.

Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted. Not! I <3 everything Joanne McNeil does, so I’m looking forward to this high-concept panel on digital minimalism.

I’m psyched to meeting up with the far-flung people I met at SXSW last year. And I’m thrilled to see friends from Web Ecology Project in person. Also, I hear that Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) is presenting and screening his Broadway show. I was a BIG childhood fan, so I’m hoping I’ll run into him somewhere.”

(Now we know where to find her!)

She wrote an insight into her panel where she explains that “little work has been done so far to help users better understand their relationship to the free services they so happily feed information to on a daily basis in the form of Facebook status updates and photos, Google searches and Gmail accounts, exposed Twitter APIs, etc.”

Her panel seeks to explain the value of your personal data. Very little thought is given to the value of data and how all those seemingly innocent inputs are fueling our “free” services.

My final question was for my own personal advantage, I must say, and her answer was particularly inspiring not only for me but for fellow SXSW attendees.

Any tips for women trying to get in the field?

“There are lots of fantastic women in the tech world today, and you have a unique opportunity at SXSW to walk up to them and pick their brains. Last year I got so much out of my conversations with folks like danah boyd and Charlene Li. I’m really looking forward to Marissa Mayer’s talk this year.

Go to their sessions, get inspired, and talk to them after. I’ve found that many women in tech are very willing to share their experiences with the coming generation. Don’t be shy! Just don’t spend all your time complaining about glass ceilings and just out there and DO something.”

SWSX is a great opportunity to meet and interact with the people we look up to and eventually want to BE. I am excited to attend, and even though I still feel a bit of intimidation, it’s reassuring to see panelists are eager to share their experience with us!