Tech In Today
Surveillance Capitalism?
While we will explore many different technologies and their affects on the individual and the as a collective, today we will focus on one topic, Surviellance capitalism. This term defined in Wikipedia describes it as a concept in political economies which denotes the widespread collection and commodification of personal data by corporations.
Ubiquity in Surveillance Capitalism
History
If were to comb through the topic, we would need to consider the beginnings surveillance capitalism. Taken from the first word in the term, surveillance goes back to the first century persons and possibly further back in time. Empires where rife with spies within the kingdom that economized around tracking the "lawless" and "rebels" to gain rank, wealth, and power. The concept of surveillence remains timeless and on a contant evolutionary trajectory. Present times there are many forms of surveillance even ones that escape our attention yet remains in every fabric of our lives, this would be Surveillance capitalism. It exist as data wraped in phone apps, business applications, cars, especially Tesla, credit card transactions, social media, ai bots that sit in our living rooms such as Alexa and in our phones, like Siri and YouTube.
Individual Cost
Technology is embedded into our daily routines. There is data to be made from the time we wake up to the time we sleep all night. We are never without technology. The credit card is a hot commodity for major corporations because it provides the most details about how we spend and what we spend. Profiles are created based on buying behavior for both brick-n-motor and online shopping. Credit card companies use their algorithms to capture the diversity in buying and repackage that data and sell it other companies and individuals. This is one form of this technology. Highly desired data comes form medical devices, embedded nano technology, geneology, blood samples and other dna samples, such as the Newborn Screening Sample Retention Laws. The cost is deeply concerning, and it makes the wide spread use of cctv cameras look like small potatoes.
The Market
Marketing surveillance capitalism does not happen in transparency, it happens in voluminous, opague agreements that come within the tech's "privacy agreements." The source of this information is 100% buried within the technology where it cannot be observed with the physical eye. The digital gazing is usually active within social apps, an apple watch, phone, laptop, tablet, tv, cars, street lights, and many more venues. We are saturated witin technology. Propaganda easily takes its place in social media ads, and within the "influencers" that thrive off of viewership and the manipulation of the viewer. Having the latest phone, or watch with embeded technology is a trend that has had a very long life. Car technololgy continues to evolved within the surveillance capitalism perview. The data gleaned from a trending car is easily marketed first through media and popculture. It seems like the engine of propaganda is as robust as the date it avertises--it's everywhere.
Transparency and Advocacy
There are a number of organizations that have lobbied and advocated for our right to privacy. The ACLU has worked tirelessly in providing legal protections of privacy and civil liberties. Eurupe's Max Schrems' NOYB (none of your business) was establsihed within the European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) that enforces strick digital information privacy. While there are organizations that provide some protections, the insidious nature of surveillance capitalsm remains prevelant in daily life. We can take steps to reduce activity tracking by keeping bluetooth off on all devices, and toggling the wifi off when we are out of our networks. We can wear plain ole watches, buy real calulators, and drive gas powered vehicles. Once we realize that protective laws are infantile compared to the enormous amounts of data that is being harvested, stored, and sold without our consents or knowlege, them we will be motivated to take extra steps in surveillance reduction.