Big Tech is coming for us. But we can stop it.
By: Sneha Somaya
Tags: Ethics In Tech, Humanity, Algorithms, Surveillance Capitalism, Data

Big Tech is coming for us. But we can stop it.

Privacy in a surveilled datafied world.

What’s the first thing you do when your alarm goes off in the morning? Just before you go to bed? How many people around you are using their phone or computer right now?

This last decade has been a game changer when it comes to how we as human beings go about our daily lives. It’s almost impossible to measure how much technology we use in several different ways. Ordering a pizza, tracking your heartbeat, sharing a moment with a friend, keeping up with the news — we use technology for everything. Its affordability and accessibility make it even more interesting and successful as it has embedded itself in everything we do, both professional and personal. However, all this advancement and convenience comes at a cost. In the last decade, terms like ‘Digital DNA’ and ‘Data Shadow’ have become a reality and highlight the vast amounts of our information that is constantly being collected from various technological services we use. To the consumer, technology brings a wonderful type of satisfaction. However, in the background, technology is beginning to require an expanding data set about our online activity through surveillance, control and behavioral influence. As these systems inch toward omniscience, it’s time we consider acknowledging the problems, setting limits and speaking up.

So, how does this technology work?

Algorithms. An algorithm is a piece of code that tells a computer how to perform a task — a set of rules that must be followed by a computer in problem-solving operations to produce a certain outcome. To the general public, algorithms are essentially a black box shaping the world around us. However, we have no idea what they are and how we’re being influenced by them. Our current digital environment calls for us to open these algorithmic black boxes before the biases of the past influence our future. It’s time to have our voices and wants heard.

Frank Pasquale popularized the concept of ‘The Algorithmic Self,’ the self that is well practiced in strategic self-promotion online. While the algorithms remain opaque, social norms are changing rapidly. He mentions, “a cyber-vertigo results, as we are pressed to promote our algorithmic selves but puzzled over the best way to do so.” This raises an important question — who’s driving this decision-making process for us? Who is responsible for inspiring the different ways we attempt to self-promote? Pasquale explores the presence of surveillance in everyday technology used by the general public and how the metrics extracted from all the data collection allows for “large scale behavioral modulation.”

If we jump into the dystopian universe of the popular TV show Black Mirror, the episode ‘Nosedive’ is a perfect example of a surveilled world modifying our actions, ‘suggesting’ what to do and how to behave based on what we’ve done in the past. In this world, beneath a surface of goodwill and kindness rewarded by social ratings, individuals are stripped off emotional and physical individualism and free will. Trapped and controlled, they become followers of instructions when striving to self-optimize and self-promote.

It’s a little worrying, right? This is, in fact, the not so distant future. About 13 hours away, China is on track to launch its dystopian scorecard system as early as 2020. While China already practices a good deal of censorship, the system will give those in authority almost complete control over their citizens. Citizens will be ranked on every aspect of their behavior and penalized for any actions not in accordance with the “rules.” A higher score means a higher quality of life, which is solely dependent on effectively being slaves to the Chinese government, losing all of one’s rights to simply be a human being.

Now, you might find this astonishing, but we’ve got a similar system present in the US too.

In China, citizens are victims of governmental censorship and behavioral modification currently and in the future. While America is built on the values of freedom, here we have private entities, mainly in Silicon Valley who are on a similar trajectory conducting their own version of surveillance and modification. Twitter recently banned political ads putting a spotlight on the power of online advertising that is driven by consumer data collection. That’s data about you and me. The goal is to protect the common man from false political ads, manipulated videos and the spread of misleading information. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter mentioned that the reach of political messages “should be earned, not bought.” In the past election, ads like these on social media were thought to have influenced voters unjustly, resulting in what some may deem unrepresentative election results. Nevertheless, do we consider this ban an act of control over what users can engage with, or a form of protection?

Technology has become as disruptive as it is innovative and is slowly taking over what governments used to do. We must shift the power back to the people. Algorithms drive the success of technological processes. These processes are opaque with risks of discrimination and profiling affecting our decisions. But, should we blame the algorithm for dictating what we are doing, or the people building these algorithms? Questions concerning data rights began when the Facebook — Cambridge Analytica data scandal was publicized. In a conversation regarding Facebook’s role in the digital world, Fred Benenson, Kickstarter’s former data chief described a trend called ‘mathwashing’: our tendency to idolize programs like Facebook’s as entirely objective because they have mathematics at their core. He said, “algorithm and data-driven products will always reflect the design choices of the humans who built them.” We are not being controlled by machines; we are being controlled by a very powerful minority of people. This is how we all become the same and loose our individualism. Can we stop it?

The technology revolution is not just online, but also operates at a personal level and throughout the structure of society. As we continue to depend on technology, we are giving up more and more information about ourselves in exchange. The sooner the public collectively understands the deep-rooted effects of technology, the sooner we can hold exploitative multinational tech corporations accountable. We begin with the issue that leads to the rest — transparency. As users, the power is in our hands.