Shamus Khan, a sociologist at Columbia University, is analyzing the orchestra's subscriber lists to create a database mapping New York's elites in the seats of the concert hall.
Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve introduced a new website intended to create a database where consumers can compare terms and rates for more than 300 credit card issuers.
He is hiring mathematicians and database administrators for a new division to create algorithms that will draw insight from data tracking consumer behavior.
The system will allow the NYPD, and possibly the federal government, to create a computerized database on the movement and whereabouts of millions of law-abiding New Yorkers.