The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Shoshana Zuboff
The only security I was cautious or aware of was the camera on my mac, but there are so many other ways for my data to be collected than I have realized. For example, our navigation and search engines on google allows them to know where we are 24/7, and FB knows our hobbies/preferences because they retrieve a lot of information from the digital traces we leave behind. I know many times the things I search up on google pop up on my fb/youtube ads, because my phone is constantly collecting data about me and sharing that data with numerous other third parties. What was frightening to learn from this video is how we are paying with our privacy. For example, Nest Thermostat collects users data and sends that data to other numerous third parties and not taking any responsibility for what they do with it. Those who choose not to allow Nest to collect their data in a way, hold the functionality of the device hostage to their agreeing of the privacy contract. In a way it shows how much power these corporations have and how much customers are willing to agree to these privacy terms to be able to use their products. It is true, we are paying with our privacy…
If using our data helps the products we use to be more efficient or the websites we use to cater more to our interests, is it worth giving up our privacy?
Mapping Interventions Helen Nissenbaum
One thing I found very interesting is the online software AdNauseam which helps block Ads by automating ad clicks on behalf of the user. There is an option that allows users to see all the ads that would appear on your screen into an “Advault” which will give you a sense of how the industry sees you and how your profile is seen on the internet. However after running for over a year, AdNauseam was banned by google on the chrome store, which is very interesting to see how google felt threatened by their extension by saying that their “extension’s functionality that blocks malware to be a distinct purpose from the function which hides and clicks ads.” I have an extension called AdBlocker and many times websites make me disable the function in order to continue using the website, I wonder why these sorts of ad blockers are such a threat…
Do you agree with some people that you have to trade off privacy for security?
’I made Steve Bannon’s psychological warfare tool’ Carole Cadwalladr’s
Right off the bat, below my screen a popup appeared that said “Your Privacy. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and to show you personalized advertising.” Which then only gives us an option to agree for the cookies to be used. It crazy to read how someone as young as Wylie was about to control and influence so many people by harvesting the FB profiles of millions of people in the US and use their private and personal information to create psychological and political profiles. It then targets them with political ads designed to work on their particular psychological makeup. I wonder how much of my data influences the type of political media that is shown to me. Perhaps my race, gender, pages I like, design a personalized political agenda for me.
How will FB data collecting be different as the younger generation are turning to other outlets rather than FB?
One Nation, Tracked Stuart A Thompson and Charlie Warzel
I love how the website started off with a visual tool for the reader to get a very clear understanding of the great power of our cell phones have in tracking our privacy. It’s crazy how much data is being collecting and how much of our privacy is exposed by just allowing an app to know our location. I can’t believe it’s perfectly legal to collect and sell our information like this (if they do it in a legal manner)… There’s no federal law that limits human tracking (unless it’s for hostile purposes). Although these dots on the map don’t show personal information, it is easy to connect the dots and see someone’s personal life. It can trace things such as your commute from home to work that can easily be identifiable after some research. This reminds me that I actually have a tracking app that my mom makes me use which marks down my every location and things such as where I was 30 mins ago, if I am in a car or not, and even my battery percentage. This app is collecting my data 24/7 without me even noticing.
How can this sort of data tracing be helpful in criminal cases, or should investigations be even allowed to access this data?
Colleges are turning phones into surveillance machines Drew Harwell
I think it’s an interesting system that some colleges are using apps and campus networks to track their students for attendance. I do agree in some ways it’s a great way for students to come to class so they aren’t marked down in their grades, but in a way it’s training students to believe that surveillance is a normal part of life. If we start to normalize surveillance and accept it to be a part of life, our actions and lifestyles will start to change. Even though some universities believe that this will boost student success, they can calculate student’s personalized risk scores by the amount of times they go to the library etc… It’s starts to become a dystopian society where we are all controlled by technology and our power to make our own decisions whether someone is watching or not diminishes. I found this very interesting and agree to this: “It embodies a very cynical view of education — that it’s something we need to enforce on students, almost against their will, We’re reinforcing this sense of powerlessness … when we could be asking harder questions, like: Why are we creating institutions where students don’t want to show up?” This brings up a good point about education… Why are we creating this view where institutions have to enforce students, assuming that they don’t want to show up to class?
Do you think instituting this tracking system will be beneficial in the workplace?
A clear case for resisting student tracking Jenny Davis
I really agree with Drew Harwell when he said “these technologies normalize surveillance and degrade autonomy…There is a fine line between mechanisms of support and mechanisms of control. These tracking technologies veer towards the latter, portending a very near future in which extrinsic accountability displaces intrinsic motivation and data extraction looms inevitable.” Especially as college students, this is a very important stage in our lives where we are growing, learning, and transitioning. If we are developing with mechanisms of control, we aren’t developing out of our own will but accustoming ourselves in fear of surveillance and punishment. We should be allowed to make our own decisions without knowing we are being watched.
If we live in a surveillance world, is our accountability and actions controlled by the hands of a system?