How concerned should we be for when it comes to data collection and privacy concerns from companies like Google and Facebook? A lot of us aren’t too concerned when it comes to stuff like this. We are, after all, innocent, right?
Well, on first thought, sure, this makes sense. Many of us don’t need to worry too much about what we’re getting up to online, because not too many of us are searching weird things that will trigger extra government surveillance. But, unfortunately, this is only a superficial perspective. What lies beneath all this data collection and constant pursuit of understanding human behaviour better is their increase in power to further influence what we see, click, think, and act on.
This topic has been discussed frequently. Especially in the media lately thanks to people like Tristan Harris and Roger McNamee. And this is a good thing. We need this conversation. We need to know what’s going on behind the scenes.
People like Harris and McNamee aren’t looking to shut down all of our favourite apps and websites. Quite the contrary. They are only looking to question why it’s legal for them to track so much of our lives in the name of targeting, virality, and income. They’re trying to start the conversation. They’re trying to get us thinking about this and for us to question companies like these and governments that are allowing this.
But, what are your thoughts? I would love to know. You can head to pernosophy.com and leave a comment or thought on this episode. Or, you can hunt me down on social media: @haydenperno & @pernosophy
If you think someone you know would be interested in this topic, why not share it to them? I would really love to spread this show a little more. Alternatively, I would love to know if you think this show is trash and I could improve in an area: info [at] pernosophy.com
Thanks so much for listening in and I’ll talk to you next week.
Extra info:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/16/roger-mcnamee-zucked-waking-up-to-the-facebook-catastrophe-interview
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/05/famed-investor-roger-mcnamee-once-advised-facebook-now-hes-certain-its-destroying-our-democracy/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/roger-mcnamee-google-should-be-broken-up-into-8-companies.html