Surveillance Capitalism
How Companies Profit Off of Your Data
Surveillance capitalism is an economic logic that has turned a user's private experience into a commodity. It is a fairly young concept that has remained unimpeded by law and kept public resistance at bay by convincing users that companies knowing everything about you is the inevitable outcome and consequence of digital technology.What kind of data do these companies collect anyway, and why is it so important? Companies are collecting our behavioral data at a massive scale, with companies like Facebook revealing that their AI "ingests trillions of data points every day." That's trillions of data points about our behavior, emotions, location, etc. which are used to make predictions about our behavior and nudge us into taking certain actions. This results in targeted advertisements which subtly manipulate users. While most think of these advertisements as "harmless" there has been record of incidents such as anti-abortion advertisements being targetted towards women who were located in abortion clinics. The truth is that while data collection seems harmless, our data can be used for nefarious purposes.
Users of technology today are trapped by a line of reasoning: "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be concerned about." However, one must consider that the source of our identities, these trillions of data points which make us, us, are PRIVATE and IMPORTANT. We do not share every little thing about ourselves in person, so ask yourself why you would let companies sell your identity? And more importantly, is a truly democratic society possible if we don't change things?
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