Out of context: Reply #141
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- monNom2
When I was a kid, the Stasis secret police in east Germany were held up as the ultimate example of a repressive state. They kept a detailed dossier on every citizen so they could target them precisely whenever they might want.
Today, we have the same thing, but instead of a government, we have large corporations like advertising platforms and credit agencies who aren't accountable to us at all. They hold our information, but we aren't asked to use it, nor allowed to see what they know about us. They own us, in a way.
Since the Berlin Wall fell, we've had 30 years of technological advancement and automation increasing the potential for harm from the sorts of things the Stasis did, and we use it all supposedly for targeting advertisments. I don't know about you, but the quality and targeting of ads I see is terrible, and doesn't appear targeted in the slightest. The claimed benefit doesn't appear to exist, and it is clear there is potential for serious abuse on a massive scale. Something needs to change to safeguard people from the negative consequences of these datasets.
Our medical information is privileged and protected. Our homes and property are considered sacred and not open to investigation without a court order. Why should the other private aspects of our lives be available to a random company? (and private should mean our connections and conversations, even when they take place through some platform on the internet).
I think we all deserve to be in control of our data, and to require affirmative consent to use it, or share it, even in an anonymized state. (deanonymizing data is trivially easy given a handful of data points). This is going to hurt some businesses, for certain. But the businesses it hurts are ugly businesses to begin with. They prey on people's ignorance and strip them of their agency.
This problem is only going to get worse. We ought to do something about it now before it becomes unfixable, or turns against us in a way we can't fight.
/rant
- It's not just about advertising. That's the immediate, obvious thin end of the wedge. it's what's built on those foundations that should concern us all.detritus
- Sorry, sounds like I thought you were ignorant of what I just said - I'm sure you know! I meant "in reaction to the common complaint against FB"detritus
- Totally. Advertising sounds so neutral, but the very same mechanism with malevolent intent could make for a scary weapon.monNom
- Agree and it also shows how ignorant the general public is with sharing all of this too. Why put EVERYTHING about yourself on social and then wonder when robotswhatthefunk
- connect the dots and steal your shit.whatthefunk