Writers should never admit it if they base a character on a particular actor or actress, or use frame-by-frame viewing of parts of a movie to inspire a description of facial expressions, gestures, fights, lovemaking, and so forth.
There are copyright reasons for not admitting such truths, if truths they are.
I remember a movie in which a hiring decision of a young woman was made based on the contents of her handbag. According to A.I. the movie might have been "Greta" from 2018, but I don't think that's the one because if I were inspired to add life to a character based on the contents of his pockets, that would have had to have been before 2005.
What about patterns of life? Pattern of life is more to do with surveillance and all round creepiness than character building... unless on is crafting something Clancyish. An analyst character might very well want to document the habits of a subject or his community in order to predict likely future behavior, or else to identify anomalous activities that might indicate when a misdeed occurred in the past or might be imminent.
For instance, it is possible for a dedicated reviewer of data to ask, "Show me everyone who goes to a golf range" or "Show me everyone who has suddenly started to visit a golf range."
Again, one would not want to admit to doing the following, but if so inclined for character-building, one could pay as little as a dollar to a data broker and receive a report that might contain voting records, court appearances addresses, phone numbers (not that you would want those), religious affiliations, social media presence, family members, friends, work colleagues, interests, gym memberships, and more.
Or, one could read obituaries.
Most people these days go everywhere with a tracking device in their pocket, purse or in one hand. They use this tracking device to shop; price check; schedule appointments, subscriptions, reservations; call friends and family; play games; report scam robocalls or texts; look up some esoteric information for your work-of-fiction-in-progress; download apps....
Advertisers use this data to try to sell your something that you have already bought, which does not say much for the quality of the product! Law enforcement can also use it. So might head hunters, potential employers, bankers, loan sharks, landlords, insurance companies, political campaigns, and more.
Use one of the more famous advertising/search engines and look up your own name. You might discover that you are the most interesting pattern for a character in your own next book.
All the best,
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