Somni Porta
The first two chapters of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism introduce the reader to surveillance capitalism in the digital world and highlights the major issues revolving around the launch of products and services. Shoshana Zuboff explores the future of human beings in the digital future and whether people will feel exiled or at home (11). The inevitable progress of technology brings about new challenges to social norms such as privacy as people rely heavily on technology in their daily activities. Its growth surpasses electricity and becomes part of the essential items people require to change their lives. Zuboff points out how technology impacts the lives of people without their knowledge (12). Insights on smart-home devices reveal underlying issues on the user’s privacy and lack of control of their consent. Ideally, companies produce a product and service that captures the market and blinds people from reading the fine print. Ideally, Zuboff refers to it as surveillance capitalism, whereby people lack a voice in what companies do with their data.
According to Zuboff, surveillance capitalism refers to the use of human experience as a raw material freely available for companies to utilize it as behavioral data (14). Surveillance capitalists use various loopholes to acquire behavioral surpluses such as emotions, voices and personalities. The example of Google’s recording and tracking of user data supports the claim of irregularities by companies when handling user data (Zuboff 13). Privacy is a fundamental right bestowed on people, whereby they choose to secure their information against third parties. However, surveillance capitalists know that people will break their privacy privileges when they use their products or services (Zuboff 16). The cannibal way by companies to record, track and use user’s data without their knowledge begs the question on whether the digital world will be home or an exile. The first chapter lays clear insights on surveillance capitalism and how it gradually affects user privacy.
In chapter two, Shoshana Zuboff looks at historical references that set up the stage for surveillance capitalism. His main focus is on three events that took place on August 9, 2011, which highlighted dangers pertaining to emerging information civilization (Zuboff 26). In the first event, Apple promised digital solutions to fix old social and economic problems, which allowed it to become a highly capitalized corporation. The second event involved police shooting in London that led to extensive rioting within the city and gradually trickled to other parts of the country (Zuboff 26). The third event is a protest by Spanish citizens towards Google, ordering them to have their search engines to forget their history. All three events highlighted various aspects of surveillance capitalism that worked for or against privacy. Their perspective on surveillance capitalism paved the way to how people understood the concepts of individualism and mass consumption of products and services.
There are two ways surveillance
capitalists view or define the collection
of user data. Individualism targets a particular user, whereby the company
tracks one’s interaction with the product or service. Ideally, it becomes an
essential principle towards the collection
of data with the aim of improving the product or service. Apple’s success comes
from its focus on individual consumption
in the digital era, whereby the company focused on integrating products and
services that suit an individual’s needs (Zuboff 27). The shift paved the way for its dominance in the market, which stands
out to benefit the users in different capacities. Mass consumption focuses on
trends in the market on majority of the
users with the aim of gauging the feedback. In the case of Google, the use of people’s information to track their
search history infiltrated their privacy as the company integrated
advertisements based on their history (Zuboff
38). Therefore, the two aspects of surveillance capitalism will affect
how people consume new products and services in the digital era.
Works Cited
Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight For A Human Future At The New Frontier of Power. New York: Public Affairs, 2019.