We're amidst the proliferation of a class of entity that Joe average
doesn't quite have the political vocabulary or tools to deal with yet;
Things that deal in you.
They make money from you, indirectly.
You have no business or social relation with them.
You didn't vote for them.
They have immense power to harm you.
You have no recourse.
You may not even know they exist.
Until recently this was the preserve of a few government agencies that
had a very narrow focus on a few "persons of interest". Today it is
every dime store startup in "big data", search, spammers, social
network, and the entire grubby, yellow maggoty underbelly of
"surveillance capitalism" and all the mushrooms that grow on it.
So far the promised "benefits" of this have never materialised. Will
we be able to keep pretending "nobody cares" as public awareness, and
governments' will to enact legislation grows? At some point surely
"credit agencies" and their ilk will essentially be outlawed under a
dozen different digital rights acts.
Things that deal in you.
They make money from you, indirectly.
You have no business or social relation with them.
You didn't vote for them.
They have immense power to harm you.
You have no recourse.
You may not even know they exist.
Until recently this was the preserve of a few government agencies that had a very narrow focus on a few "persons of interest". Today it is every dime store startup in "big data", search, spammers, social network, and the entire grubby, yellow maggoty underbelly of "surveillance capitalism" and all the mushrooms that grow on it.
So far the promised "benefits" of this have never materialised. Will we be able to keep pretending "nobody cares" as public awareness, and governments' will to enact legislation grows? At some point surely "credit agencies" and their ilk will essentially be outlawed under a dozen different digital rights acts.