The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (video documentary, 50m)
I enjoyed this documentary a lot. It is very current and had lots of ideas that I’m sure we will discuss this semester. One interesting fact that stuck out to me most was how cars my be free someday because the tracking systems will be so profitable that the service of driving a car will be free like some Google services. Another thing I found interesting was about Pokemon Go. First off, didn’t know Google started it. And secondly, I found the comparison of “click through” vs “foot fall” very interesting. Playing Pokemon Go you would never think that this is involved with profits of business’s like McDonalds and Starbucks.
Mapping Interventions – Digital Democracies Conference (talk, 30m)
Technology as it is today would be much different if some of these digital ideas were popular when tech companies started to become so powerful. One of the interesting softwares that was mentioned was Cryptogram. This didn’t allow Facebook to analyze your photos when they were uploaded. This could have prevented facial recognition to be as advanced as it is today. Shoutout Go Rando!
’I made Steve Bannon’s psychological warfare tool’ (Guardian)
This article gave good first person insight on the Cambridge Analytica scandal. I had never actually read anything about somebody telling there experiences first hand. I think Wylie is a very interesting individual, who is smart and really didn’t plan on changing his life forever due to this scandal. My favorite quote was when he said “I just think if I’d taken literally any other job, Cambridge Analytica wouldn’t exist.” It’s crazy to think that just a few ideas from individuals can change the entirety of an election
One Nation, Tracked (NY Times)
Everyone is aware that we are getting tracked. When it comes to shopping, location, and what you search for it is known that with our phones we are giving permission to companies to know every aspect of our life. But the thing is, most people don’t care, or don’t think deeply into it because they’re so content with their smartphones. I think articles like this with graphics that visualize how you are being tracked, help shed light onto this. Looking at this kind of information (and honestly… taking this class) help inform individuals what they are really giving up when they allow other companies to access their information.
Colleges are turning phones into surveillance machines (Washington Post)
I think there can be many different avenues where location tracking can be beneficial to a student, or for the university. But you have to take it with a grain of salt. When it was mentioned in this article that location tracking can be used to see if somebody is going to the library enough that is where you can say that this technology is going too far. What if you study at home? What if you study in a room at your dorm? There are too many things to take into consideration to make this type of technology credible.
A clear case for resisting student tracking (Cyborgology)
Student tracking can easily be taken out of hand. There is a spectrum of personality traits, and how students go about there experience at a university. Some of these ideas of intense student tracking with enhance inequality and expose it. “There is a fine line between mechanisms of support and mechanisms of control.” I agree that some of these systems can help prevent issues before they start, but a majority of what these systems will do is each onto how the system thinks we should live and promote that. This can hinder change, and the uniqueness of people on college campuses.