Shoutout to Malay Vasa for the topic

Human civilization has seen multiple transitions pertaining to a long standing business model. From Coal & Fuel, to Spices, even weird leaves that taste good in hot water: Tea. The common attribute between business models till today has been the tangibility of their products. 

However, we enter a world where ‘tangibility’ of products is no longer a limitation. Economies all over the world move towards a more service centric model. The age of Information. These progressive yet quick changes trigger a new business model entirely, one that’s built on services and data. Welcome to the age of Surveillance Capitalism.

If you still think that looking up something on a search engine or creating an account on social media is free, think again. Websites and web services put forth a privacy policy that governs their right on our data and activities since we blatantly skip reading and click on ‘Accept Privacy Policy.’ What matters most to most tech companies is our Data. It allows them to customize and fine tune their services to our needs and desires, pretty neat huh? Wait for it, though.

Background

Although this form of capitalism exists since the boom of the internet, say roughly 2008-2010, there has been much ado about the same in the media recently. The rising concerns regarding privacy and data security are quite closely related to this trend. Recent hearing between the US Senate and four very specific tech giants have presented the common public with a notion of ambiguity when it comes to Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Cookies. While officials in the US Senate somewhat failed to jostle tech giants, a more aware class of individuals, computer enthusiasts, and learners stepped forward and started questioning the motives and methods of such tech giants. It becomes extremely pertinent, therefore, to increase transparency and awareness about the current long standing business model.

The Necessity of Surveillance Capitalism

  1. Reduction of sales in the ‘tangible’ market: According to recent trends, consumers are less likely to change their smartphones with every new release. Hence, explaining why tech companies are now targeting the mid-tier markets.
  2. The demand for more personalized services: Facilities like cookies in web browsers allow for a more user centric display of content. This has slowly become not only a norm, but rather a common expectation for users.
  3. Shift to a service centered market: Following reduction in sales of tangible products, companies have moved on to various services like streaming, music, and even mainstream Television.

The above observations make it quite clear that Surveillance Capitalism has well established itself as the business model of the internet. It has become the common methodology for companies to earn revenue and most likely, cannot be changed. Regardless it is essential to discuss it for understanding the nature of our economy and how technology is changing it.

How does Surveillance Capitalism Work?

To answer this question in the simplest way possible: think of your parents. They know what you like and dislike. They know how to adapt to your varying moods. All this because, your parents have nurtured you, watched you grow, and observed your behaviour. Now imagine that instead of your parents, it was simply a machine. A significant bit of code that could suggest new products based not only on your previous orders but also on your search history. Expand the horizon to not only the search history of a particular website, but all of your searches on all of the websites you visit, at any given day and time.

This may seem alarming but these practices have been taking place for longer than one might expect. Even in private browsing, like incognito mode, your cookies and preferences are saved. A website will then adjust accordingly to suggest items and services more personalized. This model of changing web content based on individual users really appeals to your target audience rather than having one generalized content view for every single person. If you think about it, it’s actually pretty smart.

A couple of questions arise here, nonetheless. What are the data collection methods? Did users agree to it? Do these practices violate our fundamental rights? And most importantly, what does it cost us?

Ethics

At our current standpoint, the applied methodology of Surveillance Capitalism as seen in case studies of major tech companies, this entire business model falls in the grey area when it comes to ethics. It seems as though recent hearings of large tech companies has sparked a sense of awareness among the common masses, especially in first world countries. And it seems completely justified. Users do have the right to know how their information is being used and for what purpose.

The Dilemma

Pertaining steadfast to the current dynamic, a few issues come to mind.

Firstly, it becomes the right of consumers to choose whether they wish to opt into or out of said dynamic. No consumer should be coerced into obeying this particular business model. However, giving this choice to individuals poses a great problem for companies with capitalist ventures. Companies would most likely argue for the use of data collection methods in order to appeal to a more concise target audience. In many ways Surveillance Capitalism has become one of the if not the major source of revenue for service providers.

Secondly, the recent trend regarding people’s notions about data collection methods hasn’t been all that positive towards industries. Most people seem to be unaware about the existence of this business model, let alone how it functions. This is particularly in the case of developing countries.

Furthermore, if data collection and usage by said companies is unethical or maybe even illegal, who is there to check them? Currently, there seems to be no “line” drawn to the extent and application of Surveillance Capitalism

Resolutions

Solving this so called issue requires much more than just consumer and company cooperation. If deemed unfit or unethical, we would probably have to do away with this particular business model and find a substitute. Which won’t be easy considering the current trends of market outlined in previous sections. Therefore, it seems fit at this stage, that consumers be rigorously made aware of the entire modus operandi of Surveillance Capitalism by the companies who use it.