User Profile

A user profile (userprofile, or simply profile when used in-context) is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity. A user profile can also be considered as the computer representation of a user model.

A profile can be used to store the description of the characteristics of person. This information can be exploited by systems taking into account the persons' characteristics and preferences. For instance profiles can be used by adaptive hypermedia systems that personalise the human computer interaction.

Profiling is the process that refers to construction of a profile via the extraction from a set of data.

User profiles can be found on operating systems, computer programs, recommender systems, or dynamic websites (such as online social networking sites or bulletin boards).

Famous quotes containing the words user and/or profile:

    A worker may be the hammer’s master, but the hammer still prevails. A tool knows exactly how it is meant to be handled, while the user of the tool can only have an approximate idea.
    Milan Kundera (b. 1929)

    Actor: Electrician, a little more this way with that spotlight. What are you trying to do, ruin my profile?
    Electrician: Your profile was ruined the day you were born.
    James Gleason (1886–1959)