Why Surveillance Capitalism Needs to Be Stifled

Shoshana Zuboff defines surveillance capitalism as the collection of personal data for the purpose of selling it for profit. Companies like Google and Facebook are some of the biggest money-makers in the industry due to their massive user counts and relentless data collection policies. Understanding these policies and how powerful they become when applied to billions of users can help us understand how much these tech companies truly know about us.

How does surveillance capitalism affect our agency?

Knowing how tech companies monetize our data can help us be more careful about what information we’re comfortable allowing these companies to sell. Would you be comfortable with selling clips of your voice during vulnerable moments? How about screenshots of your face right after waking up in the morning? These are exactly the types of things you’re giving companies like Snap and Apple access to when you agree to voice recording and camera permissions after booting up their apps. The companies behind these privacy policies are counting on users not knowing (or just not caring, which is more likely) what’s contained in them and blindly clicking “accept” without thinking of the consequences. Knowing what we’re agreeing to might not stop us from using these apps, but it might at least make us more careful about the kind of content we’re sharing through them.

What does Zuboff want us to do?

Zuboff calls for all of us to interrupt or shut down the supply of data needed to sustain surveillance capitalism. To do that, we, as users of the internet and other digital tools, need to demand that lawmakers ban the collection and sale of what Zuboff calls “human futures” — aka personal data. Doing this would our data significantly less valuable — tech companies would have much less incentive to collect sensitive data if they knew they wouldn’t be able to make money on it.

How can we start fighting back against predatory data collection?

The simplest way to cut into Big Tech’s bottom line is to be more careful about which permissions you accept when setting up a new phone or downloading a new app. Here’s a few more examples:

• Instead of letting Google Maps track your location all the time, consider whether or not you want Google to know exactly where you are at any time of day. Maybe only allowing the app to access your location while you have the app open is a better idea.
• If Facebook asks for access to your contacts to make it easier to find friends, deny the request and search for friends using their real names. That way, Facebook can’t sell phone numbers and names belonging to your hundreds of contacts and you don’t end up sending friend requests to people you never talk to. It’s a win-win!
• When Apple wants to scan your masked face to make it easier to unlock your phone, think about what that data could be used for. If you don’t like the thought of Apple being able to identify your face when it’s 70% covered, use a passcode instead of Face ID this time.

For a deeper dive into mobile app permissions, check out this article from Wired to see how you can customize how your smartphone or computer collects and uses your data.