Surveillance capitalism is: "a market driven process where the commodity for sale is your personal data, and the capture and production of this data relies on mass surveillance of the internet." - Donell Holloway
Specific Ads
Have you ever looked up something for a project or out of curiosity and then got ads for similar topics for weeks after? This has happened to me many times and the speed at which it occurs is concerning. Google and other search engines will show you ads specific to things you've been looking for.
Recently I downloaded a music-producing app and was Googling guides on how to use the app. For the next few weeks, I was getting only ads promoting plug-ins for the app I downloaded.
It only ended about a week ago when I was looking up information on loans and credit. Now my ads have been geared towards debt and college loans.
Selling of data
Lots of companies sell and buy user's data to gain information about users. Allowing the companies to appeal to the user's interests and make the person more interested in their products.
Data Leaks
With so much of our personal information online the transferring of data increases the risk of data leaks.
Data leaks can spread people's personal information and lead to identity theft. Data leaks typically happen accidentally from an internal error within the company.
Although to my knowledge I haven't been personally affected by a data leak. Often a lot of sites will inform users of a data leak and encourage them to change their passwords to protect their accounts.
Tips For Surveillance
- Be aware, that everything you look up is being added to a data profile about you
TIPS FOR Data Leaks
- Pay attention to what services have had data leaks recently
- Frequently change password
- reduce how much personal information you store online, (Paper documents are safer)
Sources
- https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-surveillance-capitalism-and-how-does-it-shape-our-economy-119158
- https://theconversation.com/you-may-be-sick-of-worrying-about-online-privacy-but-surveillance-apathy-is-also-a-problem-86474
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook
- https://abnormalsecurity.com/glossary/data-leak
Credits:
Created with an image by Nudphon - "Modern public CCTV cameras on white wall. Intelligent reccording cameras for monitoring all day and night. Concept of surveillance and monitoring with copy space and clipping path."