Why I am aiming to reduce my data footprint in the golden age of surveillance capitalism.
This article is dedicated to everyone who is already sick of hearing me talk about data mining and is finally excited that I’ve extended my frustration beyond the notes section on my phone.
I have to say it’s gotten to the point where people have regretted asking me why I don’t have a TikTok account as I keep rambling on while they roll their eyes. Sometimes I think about where it all began but there’s really no end and beginning to this story. As I grew older, the level of care I’ve given to this topic simultaneously grew with the amount of time I spent educating myself on it. The truth is I am no where near an expert however I can do a mean job at pointing you to the direction of those who are.
In 2016, Forbes announced that Data surpassed the oil industry in value*. Data is now fundamental to business. The reality is our personal information is now the most valuable commodity and all the information we give is controlled by essentially the tech giants (who are really just giants giants) of Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Netflix. The reason the two (data and oil) have been compared to each other is mostly due to the fact that their dominance has prompted discussion for their power to be dismantled similar to Standard Oil in the early 20th Century. It is crucial to note however, that I am not stating oil is the same as data, rather when compared to oil in most articles and academic journals, data has mostly been referred to as the ‘new oil of the 20th Century’.
What is data mining?
If you watched Westworld season 3, then you probably have an idea without knowing the name. In an attempt to simplify the term, it has broadly been defined it as “discovering patterns in a large dataset that can help predict future behaviours”. It isn’t a new concept in the world of business. Your local Sainsburys or Tesco mines the data of you and other customers by tracking shopping behaviours. If everyone in your neighbourhood buys chocolate chip cookies everyday, the manager will notice that it is a popular item and will attempt to double the stock from their suppliers. Using the behavioural data from stock, they are able to tell what customers in the neighbourhood enjoy in order to make accurate predictions for the future. It is the reason why I will always find halal sausages in the Streatham Sainsburys, or more of a Korean selection in the one in Kingston. Mining data is so powerful that Target in the USA used it to analyse a woman’s purchase history to determine that she was pregnant before she even knew herself (cited at the bottom).
Now if you’re all level headed then you probably know that is this can be used for the good. Areas and of engineering and sciences have witnessed a great overhaul since data mining techniques began. In his article, Prkahar Agrawal stated the various ways in which data mining has been used for the greater good.
“Sequence mining finds extensive use in the study of human genetics. It aims to find out how the changes in DNA correspond to the risk of developing common diseases, which will aid significantly in improving methods of diagnosing, preventing, and treating these diseases.
“Data mining is used in the field of educational research to understand the factors leading students to engage in behaviours which reduce their learning and efficiency.”
“Crime prevention agencies also use data analytics to spot trends across myriads of data. This data includes information including details of all the major criminal activities that have happened.”
Then what is so bad about data mining?
The truth is it’s not. I am a huge advocate for my behavioural data being mined when it is used for the right cause. It is only until the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2016 that I started to realise that it was being misused. In March, The Observer of London and The Guardian obtained a cache of documents that revealed the company used data improperly obtained from Facebook to build voter profiles for the Trump’s presidential campaign. As a 17 year old A-level student at the time, I had recently engrossed myself into the Matrix trilogy but little did I know I was kinda already living in one.
Nevertheless, I felt powerless in the situation. Similar to my past attitude about climate change, I decided not to do anything about it because I alone couldn’t make a difference. It wasn’t until I watched ‘The Great Hack’ on Netlfix that I discovered how little I knew about how data misuse and its contribution to the ill health of our democracy. Even so, I didn’t gain full consciousness of the situation until I watched season 3 of Westworld. Reading it now, it may sound far fetched as I understand television in general is so worried about free will, yet Westworld explores this is in a dystopian future where we are controlled by data predictions. One of the new villains in the first four episodes is Serac, a reclusive trillionaire who’s found an algorithm that uses data to predict the future for every human on Earth. Now to me this sounded all familiar (although I wish Mark Zuckerburg or Jeff Bezos were as good looking as Serac) so it led me to research where the director (Jonathan Nolan) drew this inspiration from and that is where I found the book that changed my life completely.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshanna Zuboff published in 2018 is a bold and enticing book that identifies the new age of capitalism. The authors words exposed me to that we are ever repeating systematic experiences until we become numb, and in complete denial that we are not living in a dystopia . For example, using Google every day to search for something when the reality is you are being searched. The company’s aim was to organise human knowledge to an accessible location but rather it now controls all access to it. Whatever you like, post, buy or share on the internet becomes ‘behavioural surplus’ which has been traded for profit in new markets based on predicting our every need. To be clear here, our behavioural data is not the product but instead the ‘raw material’ used to translate into patterns and predictions which is then sold to third parties. This grotesque extraction of information has been compared to colonialism in that these Tech giants discovered these untapped resources and concluded that it was their possession. The key difference between data mining in your local Sainsburys and this new form of exploitation, is that it not only seeks to invade our private lives, but seeks to shape and control them. Like climate change, the idea of surveillance capitalism is so surreptitious and subtle. The process is as democratic as it is understood (that is to say that is is not) and it is this ignorance that is integral to surveillance capitalism.
So what should I do to stop this?
In honesty, it will be a lengthy and strenuous process to disentangle ourselves from the toxicity of industrial and now surveillance capitalism. Though you (and I sometimes) may see my actions to reduce my digital footprint as minuscule, one of my core values as an individual includes diminishing the act of complacency. If I do not find the act of data mining morally justifiable then I should do my best to reduce or eradicate any unessential activities that may contribute to it. I understand that I cannot go ‘off the grid’. My employment, insurance, public service access and health relies on the internet so I cannot fully eradicate my digital footprint. Some of you may also ask me why I post articles in Medium and for that I counterargue with Jeremy Bentham’s ethical theory of utilitariansim. If there are atleast five of you I have educated with this article, then I will be using this force for good.
How are you actually reducing your digital footprint?
So far I have deleted my Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat and Netflix. I am yet to delete my Instagram and Amazon Prime Account. I have also closed three of my unused email accounts on Microsoft. As mentioned before, this is a lengthy process and it will take me a long time to slowly wean off my social media habits, let alone further reduce my digital footprint.
Conclusion
My pretentious self ends this article with a quote from Orwell’s classic 1984 in which he says “none are more hopelessly enslaved than those who believe they are free”. I always feel ashamed about the fact that I was aware of climate change from a young age yet took no action (even a little) until I became an adult. Looking back at history we always ask why people didn’t do enough. Even though I may not make a difference alone, informing others of my actions enough times might change public opinion around me (and we all know public opinion becomes policy in 20 years). Even then, if I am not successful, it will be enough at my old age to know that I tried my best.
Additional Resources
Here are a few things that inspired me to carry out research on data mining:
1.The Great Hack — Netflix
2. Snowden- Amazon (this is not about data mining but super insightful too)
3.1984 by George Orwell- any bookstore its a vintage classic
4. Westworld- HBO
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