The data economy depends on violating our right to privacy on a massive scale, collecting as much personal data as possible for profit.
I know that you know you’re being watched. But I’m not sure you realize the extent of it, or its implications. Hundreds of corporations that you’ve never heard of, as well as many governments around the world, are surveilling you.
They know who you sleep with because both you and the person you share your bed with keep your phones nearby. They know whether you sleep soundly at night or whether your troubles are keeping you up. They track whether you pick up your phone in the middle of the night and search for things like “loan repayment.” They infer your IQ based on the pages you “like” on Facebook and the friends you have. They track your restaurant visits and shopping habits. They know how fast you drive, even if you don’t have a smart car, because your phone contains an accelerometer.
They can calculate your life expectancy based on how fast you walk, as measured by your phone. They can infer whether you suffer from depression by how you slide your finger across your phone’s screen. They know if your spouse is considering leaving you because she’s been searching online for a divorce lawyer. If they identify you as someone with a gambling problem, they may use that knowledge to lure you back into gambling. They know your weaknesses.
The more companies know about you, the more power they have over you.
Many of these companies call themselves “data brokers.” I call them data vultures. They generate profits by compiling a profile of you from your data trail and then selling it to the highest bidder — banks, insurers, prospective employers, and many others. They can sell individual data profiles as well as lists of people. Some of the categories these companies use to identify and classify individuals include rape victims, erectile dysfunction sufferers, alcoholics, and people who have AIDS or HIV. It was recently revealed that Facebook allows advertisers to target children as young as 13 who have been profiled as being interested in smoking, alcohol, online dating, extreme weight loss, and gambling.
The internet is largely funded through the exploitation of personal data, which is widely repackaged and sold to support targeted, personalized advertising. This is the basis of what’s known as “the data economy.”
You may think to yourself: “I’ve done nothing wrong, so I have nothing to worry about, nothing to fear.” You’re wrong. Does everyone who can access your data have your best interests at heart? Of course not. That’s why you keep your credit card number to yourself, and why you have a lock on the entrance to your home. If you don’t go around giving your email account password to strangers, then you shouldn’t go around giving away your personal data.
Privacy is important because it protects you from the influence of others. The more companies know about you, the more power they have over you. If they know you are desperate for money, they will take advantage of your situation and show you ads for abusive payday loans. If they know your race, they may not show you ads for certain exclusive places or services, and you would never know that you were discriminated against. If they know what tempts you, they will design products to keep you hooked, even if that can damage your health, hurt your work, or take time away from your family or from basic needs like sleep. If they know what your fears are, they will use them to lie to you about politics and manipulate you into voting for their preferred candidate. Foreign countries use data about our personalities to polarize us in an effort to undermine public trust and cooperation. The list goes on and on.
Companies that accumulate data
