Human beings worldwide are becoming more networked and becoming dependent on the internet that is increasingly becoming woven into modern society and daily lives. The book focuses on the algorithms that collect and learn from the data and metadata collected from individuals' actions in their daily lives. My thoughts on the book were that it was based to create awareness about how the big corporation collected data about us to create an online identity that may differ from our offline personas. However, there is a very thin line between online and offline identities. The thin margin differs between what the algorithm has collected and how much of it is true. Even so, the book needed to clarify the sense of stakes and offer a sense of the collective actions the population can take instead of just focusing on individual actions.
The big tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have billions of users across the platforms. Having read "we are data" my use of social media on a personal level will go down and delete personal accounts to reduce the data collection. Eliminating unnecessary applications is crucial to protect my privacy. However, I will use the necessary email applications to converse with companies' executives in the professional scenario. I will also use social media only to promote or sell products or services.
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The biggest ethical problem with the big tech companies is in the drafted terms of service that fosters data collection for targeted advertising. Social media applications have embraced a capitalistic mindset that seeks to gather information to predict a user's preferences using recommendations into enticing someone. In an interview with Snowden, NBC's Brian Williams discovered that one googles search could give out so much information about a person. An example from searching "the final score of the Rangers-Canadians game last night" can reveal that the user speaks English, you are interested in sports, your location in the world to determine if one is at home or if one is travelling, when you wake up, when you go to sleep, the phones that are around you, if you are doing something, are you with someone that is not your wife. All the information can be gathered from one search. Therefore, it is upon everyone to try safeguard and protect their privacy.
References
Cheney-Lippold, J. (2018). We are data: Algorithms and the making of our digital selves . nyu Press.
