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Collecting Data

6:49 with Hope Armstrong and Michelle Zohlman

Let's evaluate consumer surveillance streams and the rise of surveillance capitalism.

New Terms:

  • Cookie: A cookie is a piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user's computer by the user's web browser.
  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): provides data protection and privacy
  • Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA): provides protection for children under 13 years of age using the internet

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    MICHELLE: In Bruce Schneier's book, Data and Goliath, he explains the four basic 0:00
    consumer surveillance streams that existed before the Internet. 0:05
    First, companies keep track of their customers' purchasing behavior. 0:09
    This started out simple, such as hotels keeping track of their frequent guests. 0:14
    Then it evolved into monitoring sales from the initial browsing to the final 0:19
    purchase. 0:23
    Collecting activity via loyalty cards, trading consumer lists with other stores, 0:24
    and using customer relationship management tools. 0:30
    The second stream is direct marketing, 0:34
    where paper mail is sent directly to people's homes. 0:36
    While direct is in the name, it was roughly based on location, 0:40
    demographics, and customer lists traded from like minded businesses. 0:44
    These days it's much more targeted and data informed. 0:49
    Thirdly, credit bureaus collect personal financial data. 0:53
    Credit history affects a person's approval chances when leasing an apartment or 0:57
    taking out a loan. 1:02
    The fourth stream is government records such as birth certificates, 1:04
    voter registration records and driver's licenses. 1:08
    Now these streams have been combined to form large data brokers like Axiom. 1:12
    They buy your personal data from the products you use, combine it with other 1:18
    data streams, and sell it to companies who want to know more about you. 1:22
    And it's not just the retail industry. 1:27
    It's even healthcare and law enforcement. 1:29
    There are new streams as well. 1:33
    Cookies are a common way for browsers to store information. 1:35
    This can be anything from a language preference to how a visitor found out 1:39
    about the site. 1:43
    A cookie is a piece of data sent from a website and 1:44
    stored on the user's computer by their web browser. 1:48
    Everyday objects are now data collection tools. 1:52
    Smart devices such as Amazon Alexa, listen in on people in their homes. 1:55
    Providing them services, but 2:00
    also collecting data which can be sent to law enforcement. 2:02
    HOPE: Harvard professor and author Shoshana Zuboff defines surveillance 2:07
    capitalism as unilateral claiming of private human experience as 2:12
    free raw material for translation into behavioral data. 2:17
    That data is then repackaged into predictions, 2:22
    informing companies about what we will do now, soon, and later. 2:26
    In the corporate surveillance in everyday life report by crackedlabs.org, 2:31
    the primary data collectors are platforms such as Facebook, Google, Apple, 2:37
    the three major credit reporting agencies, and consumer data brokers. 2:45
    MICHELLE: Technology continues to grow at a much faster pace than the government 2:51
    can regulate it. 2:55
    The European Union has led the way with its General Data 2:56
    Protection Regulation, commonly referred to as EU GDPR. 3:00
    It provides data protection and privacy for those in the EU and expands outside of 3:05
    its geographical area as it applies to personal data transfer outside the EU. 3:11
    You've probably seen a cookie consent banner, 3:17
    those became widespread because of GDPR. 3:20
    Many companies have become GDPR compliant for 3:23
    their entire product, even though they're not required to do so. 3:26
    It is too costly and time consuming to provide a different experience for 3:30
    a subset of users. 3:34
    While companies may feel motivated to stockpile data, 3:36
    it's increasingly a liability. 3:40
    In the United States, children are further protected by 3:43
    the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, commonly abbreviated as COPPA. 3:46
    Enacted in 2000, it applies to personal information collected from kids under 3:52
    13 in the United States. 3:57
    It even includes children outside of the US if the company is US-based. 3:59
    These are just a couple of examples of data protection regulation. 4:04
    There are several laws worldwide that apply to various jurisdictions. 4:08
    Check out the link in the teacher's notes. 4:13
    HOPE: Sometimes users are pressured to disclose more data. 4:16
    In 2016, TechCrunch reported that 4:20
    Uber began tracking riders whereabouts after they left their ride. 4:23
    Previously, location information was only collected while the app was open. 4:28
    The change in 2016 forced users to choose between allowing 4:34
    the app to always track their locations or never to track their location. 4:39
    The latter meant that they would need to type out their current location for 4:44
    every ride request. 4:48
    Uber specifically wanted access to a rider's location from when 4:50
    a ride is requested until five minutes after the driver drops the passenger off, 4:55
    even if the app is not in the foreground of the customer's phone. 5:00
    Uber said their intent was to improve drop offs and 5:05
    pickups as limiting street crossing is safer. 5:09
    But the extra location data could be invasive. 5:13
    In 2017, after public pressure, 5:17
    Uber re-enabled the option to share location only while using the app. 5:21
    Another ethical aspect to consider with data collection 5:26
    is whether it is inclusive. 5:30
    When required to specify one's gender, often there are only binary 5:32
    options of man or woman instead of a spectrum of genders. 5:37
    As for race and ethnicity, sometimes there isn't an option to select multiple 5:42
    options or an appropriate option that matches one's identity. 5:47
    When this information is required, it can put people in a stressful situation 5:51
    if they do not know how the data will be used or misused. 5:56
    Until 2019, Facebook allowed discriminatory advertising targeting. 6:01
    Advertisers could choose to exclude people based on their gender, race, and 6:07
    disability when posting job descriptions, housing, and credit offers. 6:12
    Some companies defend the selling of our data 6:18
    by saying they're providing a free service. 6:21
    But is it a fair and balanced deal? 6:24
    MICHELLE: Some people argue in defense of data collection by saying, 6:28
    I have nothing to hide. 6:31
    Machines make decisions on data without context. 6:33
    Data can be misinterpreted and predictions of our future behavior can be wrong. 6:36
    Excessive data collection hinders our basic human needs for freedom, privacy, 6:41
    and safety. 6:46
    More on that later. 6:47

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