Surveillance capitalism
Surveillance capitalism is a business model focused on the collection, analysis, and commercialization of consumer data, often without explicit consent from users. This practice has gained prominence with the rise of digital technologies and social media platforms like Google and Facebook, which harvest vast amounts of user information through techniques such as cookies and Internet Protocol (IP) tracking. The Internet of Things (IoT) further amplifies this issue, as everyday devices—ranging from smartphones to smart home appliances—are now capable of collecting and transmitting personal data about users’ daily habits and preferences.
Initially, surveillance capitalism revolved around digital interactions like search histories and online purchases. However, advancements in technology have enabled companies to track information about users' locations, activities, and even health metrics through fitness devices. While some applications require users to agree to data collection terms, such permissions are often buried in lengthy agreements, leading to a lack of awareness among users. As a result, many individuals may unknowingly participate in this data economy, which is leveraged primarily for targeted advertising and product development. Understanding surveillance capitalism is essential for recognizing the implications of living in a data-driven society, especially regarding personal privacy and consent.
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Surveillance capitalism
Surveillance capitalism refers to the business practice of packaging and selling the information of consumers. In many cases, the information harvested by surveillance capitalist companies is harvested without the knowledge or consent of the user. Google and Facebook harvest large amounts of user information for surveillance capitalist purposes. The microphone on mobile devices can also be used by certain apps to track users' preferences.
Originally, surveillance capitalism was limited to digital information, such as search histories and online purchases. However, the smartphone, virtual assistant household devices, and personal fitness devices have allowed surveillance capitalists to harvest significant amounts of information about consumers’ daily lives. This includes information about the locations to which users travel, the foods they eat, the times they sleep, the products they view, and the purchases they make. In many cases, this information is harvested without users’ knowledge or consent. However, to utilize many applications, users must agree to a long and complicated set of terms and conditions. In many cases, the permission to harvest users’ information for surveillance capitalist purposes is included somewhere within the document.
Background
Surveillance capitalism refers to the large-scale collection, sale, and general monetization of user data. In most cases, this data is collected through monitoring and capturing the activities of a large population. The term was pioneered by John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney in 2014 when they co-authored an article about the subject.
Surveillance capitalism was made possible by the increased prevalence of social media and the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT refers to the integration of computing devices into commonly encountered, everyday objects. Wireless internet and other forms of networking connect these devices, allowing many objects to rapidly send and receive data. This means that numerous everyday objects, such as phones, watches, cameras, clocks, and refrigerators and other household appliances, can collect and share data.
Social media first began in the late 1990s, when Internet users began to network personal blogs and profiles on websites like LiveJournal. That was succeeded by Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook. Social media websites allowed people to quickly and easily share their lives with a chosen network of friends. Users could post photographs, videos, or text posts, and people they chose to include in their social network would be given an opportunity to see such posts. Many users utilized social media services to keep in touch with friends and family, while others used the services to connect with new people.
Social media continued to skyrocket in popularity with the advent of the smartphone. Smartphones are handheld devices that also carry out many of the functions once confined to a desktop computer. These include browsing the Internet and running complex applications. In most cases, smartphones are also capable of taking pictures and videos. Smartphones allow users to access social media at any time. Users are able to update their profiles and status in real time and can be instantly alerted to updates within their network.
Overview
As the number of Internet users skyrocketed in the early twenty-first century, many corporations realized that they could track the way users act online. Google, the massive technology company that created one of the most popular search engines in the world, was one of the first companies to take advantage of this concept. Because utilizing Google’s search engine was free, the company needed another way to profit from its primary business model. Google realized that it could track what users were looking for on its search engine using cookies, Internet Protocol (IP) tracking, and many other techniques. Cookies are bits of information placed on computers or browsers by web servers that provide information about the user’s browsing.
In the early 2000s, Google began to successfully use that data to learn about its users. It began to build associations between certain searches and purchasing certain products, then utilize complex algorithms to sort that information. Google then sold the information to its financial partners, primarily advertising companies. Advertising companies were able to use that information to make targeted advertisements, allowing them to market products to people who were likely already interested in them.
Google initially worked to keep this form of data collection secret. However, other industry members quickly caught on. Facebook realized that social media users willingly volunteered massive amounts of personal data. Like Google, Facebook realized that this information could be bundled and sold to advertisers. Because Facebook’s primary product was free for consumers to use, selling data to other corporations became one of the primary ways the company profited.
The IoT provided numerous other ways for surveillance capitalist companies to harvest user data. The IoT is the interconnection of everyday objects, such as smart toasters, which send and receive data using the Internet. For example, smartphones are capable of recording user conversations, locations, and Internet histories, independently taking pictures, and monitoring the amount of time spent on each application. Many smartphone applications record users in this style and then send that information to the application publishers for analysis, packaging, and sale. Purchasing this information allows advertisers and other corporations to refine their products to better target specific audiences.
As another common example, popular fitness tracking devices often track the number of steps users take daily, what times the users sleep, what users eat, and many other details about users’ lives. Like other forms of data, this information is often recorded and sold. In some instances, users agree to have their information sold somewhere in a long and complicated Terms and Conditions section of the application, which users must agree to before they can utilize the application’s functions. However, in many other instances, applications secretly monitor and submit this data. Some applications are able to secretly read users’ contact lists, record phone calls, and copy users’ photos. Many smartphones allow users to manually toggle the permissions of individual applications to attempt to help curb illicit information harvesting. However, if users fail to diligently police phone permission settings when installing new applications, such measures will be ineffective.
Bibliography
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