Interact
3 min read
Privacy in a surveillance society
I’ve been thinking about this post for a while now but the wife and I recently watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix (great watch) and it really push me to write it. So let’s get into it.
He knows when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. No, we’re not talking about Santa Clause we’re talking about big data algorithms.
Today, we live in a surveillance society; every website you go on, every app you go on, every tap, every scroll is documented tracked, and kept in a giant data warehouse somewhere. To create a digital profile of you, all to feed “algorithms” which then, in turn, sell your attention to the highest bidder to serve you ads.
You are commoditised.
You know when you mention something that you want or could do with your friends or family, and then seemingly 5 minutes later you see that exact item shows up on your Instagram feed, which leads you to grab your tin-foil hat and think that Instagram and Facebook are listening to your conversations? Well, the profile they have of you is so good that they can predict what you want before you even know you want it and they’re just waiting for the opportune time to present it to you for optimal results.
Your every desire is anticipated.
55.2% of all websites use Google analytics, as a web developer for an agency I’ve been asked to include it on every website I’ve created. For those that don’t know, Google Analytics (or GA) is a free tool that allows website owners to gather data about the visitors to their website, the helps them know their audiences and better tailor content for more sales conversions. They don’t gather personal identifiers but information such as geographical location, the device used, previous website i.e. how you got there and much more. These pieces of information on their own aren’t much, but when you put all these pieces together a pretty clear picture develops. With the apparent ubiquity of GA, it doesn’t matter if you use Google’s services or not, they know what you’re doing.
You are watched.
I’m just painting a picture of how it is and it goes much deeper than this and in my opinion, it’s a pretty bad situation. I like my privacy. Generally, it is free tools and services that surveil us in exchange for there services, Google, Facebook, etc…
There are a few actions you can take today to help you combat this. Use alternative services and tools built with privacy in mind.
Browsing the web; switch browser: Brave, Edge, Safari
Searching the web; Switch search engine: Qwant, Duck Duck Go
Maps: try Google Maps in incognito mode or Apple Maps if you have an iPhone (a privacy-based device)
Protect activity with a VPN
Messaging; switch from WhatsApp: try Signal
If you were to take one action, I suggest it be switching your web browser from Chrome to Safari or Brave which both has privacy baked into their DNA.