Surveillance Capitalism is a term coined by Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff to describe a new economic order that claims human experience as free raw material for hidden commercial practices of extraction, prediction, and sales. It is a system that thrives on the extraction of personal data from individuals, often without their explicit consent, and uses this data to manipulate and control their behavior for the benefit of corporations.
Would You Take a Surveillance Capitalism Job?
Q1: If you were offered a decent paying regular job (e.g. Social Media Communications Manager, or Brand Advocacy Manager, ) to sit on a social media platform making whatever comments were necessary to steer dialogs away from certain topics or facts in order to protect one or more company’s profits, would you take such a job?
Q2: Why or why not?
Q3: Would you be good at it?
Q4: Do believe such jobs exist now?
Q5: If, after some success and a promotion, resources became available to you which included access to highly personal information on all of the individuals on the platform, (net worth, physical location, shopping habits, medical details, political views, person traumatic life experiences, and much more.) would you quit at this point? Or, would you feel a sense of power, even enjoyment in utilizing user profiles with juicy inside information which you could use to improve your performance and evenearn bonuses?
Q6: If the existence of such jobs strains credulity for you, do you believe there are ever multi-million dollar corporate projects which could be halted by a negative tide of public opinion?
Q7: Do you believe that some corporations might pay handsomely for successful influence operations to sway public opinion?
Q8: Do you have any ideas to mitigate, balance, reverse or end Surveillance Capitalism in the future?
Facts About Surveillance Capitalism
This is a compilation of information (work in progress) from web research on the topic. If the information at the links is correct, we feel there are many things most people do not know about surveillance capitalism:
1. Surveillance capitalism is a new economic system that revolves around the commodification of human experience and behavior, which is then used to predict and modify future behavior for profit.[1][2][3][4][5]
2. Surveillance capitalism was “invented at Google and elaborated at Facebook” as a new logic of accumulation that revolves around the commodification of human experience and behavior.[1]
3. Google and Facebook have achieved an unprecedented scale and scope of data extraction and knowledge accumulation, allowing them to dominate the market and exert significant control.[1][2][3]
4. The institutionalizing practices and operational assumptions of Google, as described by its Chief Economist Hal Varian, are a primary lens through which surveillance capitalism is analyzed.[1]
5. While surveillance capitalism initially emerged from Silicon Valley, it has now “spread from Silicon Valley to every economic sector” as its success has birthed a broader “surveillance-based economic order.”[2]
6. Expansion across sectors: Surveillance capitalism has spread from the tech industry to permeate every economic sector, with devices and operating systems serving as the infrastructure to extract and leverage behavioral data across domains like insurance, healthcare, finance, and more.[2][25]
7. Surveillance capitalism fundamentally challenges human autonomy and democratic sovereignty by treating private human experience as raw material to be extracted and exploited.[1][2][3][4][5]
8. The unprecedented scale and scope of data extraction enabled by digital technologies has allowed surveillance capitalists to achieve a level of market dominance and control that threatens to replace democratic institutions.[1][2][3][4][5][9][10][11]
9. Surveillance capitalism operates through four key stages: commodification of human behavior, concentration of computational knowledge production, remote behavioral actuation, and systemic dominance.[3][4][11]
10. Surveillance capitalism is being supported by lax laws, allowing companies to extract and exploit personal data with little transparency or accountability, at a high cost to individuals in terms of privacy, security and trust.[1][3][5][14][16][17]
11. The trading of personal data as a business model is being exported to all institutions in society, transforming citizens into data subjects whose lives are used as fodder for data collection and analysis.[5][18]
12. Surveillance capitalism threatens to tip the balance of power away from individuals and towards those who control the most data, whether corporations or authoritarian states, undermining the autonomy and privacy needed for democratic societies to function.[5]
13. Proposed legislative changes, such as the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act, aim to better protect individual data privacy in the face of surveillance capitalism, but their effectiveness remains to be seen.[2][3]
14. The use of corporate expertise and data by government agencies, such as the RCMP’s use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition database, represents another concerning trend in the evolution of surveillance capitalism.[2][3]
15. Addressing the true threat of surveillance capitalism may require renewed attention to limiting government access to personal information, recognizing the property-like status of personal data, and establishing robust rights-based frameworks to govern its use.[2][3][4][5]
16. It is a new logic of accumulation that emerged in the early 2000s, primarily driven by tech giants like Google and Facebook.[9][10]
17. The core of surveillance capitalism is the extraction of human behavioral data, which is then used to predict and modify future behavior for profit. This data is the “raw material” that is translated into lucrative “prediction products” sold to advertisers.[9][10]
18. Surveillance capitalism fundamentally differs from traditional capitalism. Instead of claiming labor or land as the means of production, it lays claim to private human experience as the source of raw material for its products.[9][10]
19. Surveillance capitalism is not just about individual companies, but rather an entire new economic order that is spreading across all sectors of the economy. It represents a battle for power and profit that challenges human autonomy and democratic sovereignty.[9][10]
20. Surveillance capitalism cannot be equated with technology itself. It is an economic orientation that uses technology as a means to an end. The technology is the “puppet,” while the economic logic is the “puppet master.”[9][10]
21. The rise of surveillance capitalism is closely tied to the decline of democratic institutions and the abandonment of societies to new forms of digitally-mediated violence from both state and market actors.[11]
22. Surveillance capitalism’s institutional development braids together economic power, governance power, and social power into a formidable force that threatens to replace democratic institutions and individual autonomy.[11]
23. The future of surveillance capitalism is uncertain – it could lead to a return to the developmental path, deinstitutionalization and destruction, or eventual reinstitutionalization. But without new public institutions and legal frameworks, citizens are left vulnerable to the predations of this new economic order.[11]
24. Privacy is a form of power, and whoever has the most personal data will dominate society – whether it is given to companies or governments, it threatens to undermine individual autonomy and democratic freedoms.[21][22]
25. The competition for surveillance revenues “bears down on our bodies, our automobiles, our homes, and our cities,” extending far beyond just the tech giants.[2]
26. Surveillance capitalism represents a “sweeping political-economic institutional order” that has become dependent on by both democratic and authoritarian governments for population-scale data extraction and prediction.[3]
27. Data extraction and analysis: Devices and operating systems are used to continuously extract data about user behavior, interactions, and the surrounding environment. This “behavioral surplus” is then commodified and used to predict and modify future behavior.[1][3][25]
28. Personalization and customization: Devices and operating systems collect detailed user data that allows for highly personalized and customized experiences, products, and services. This personalization is a core mechanism for surveillance capitalism to align supply and demand around individual needs and behaviors.[1][25]
29. Ubiquitous monitoring and tracking: The search results describe how even “smart” devices like breathing machines and Internet of Things devices can surreptitiously monitor and transmit user data, often without the user’s knowledge or consent.[25]
30. Conditioning and behavior modification: The pervasive surveillance enabled by devices and operating systems conditions users to become “docile bodies” that accept certain behaviors and identities as normal, making them more susceptible to commercial influence and manipulation.[25]
31. The “vortex of stimuli”: Surveillance capitalists create an environment of constant stimuli and feedback loops that condition users to become more susceptible to behavioral modification. Surveillance capitalists have learned to exploit information overload for profit by overwhelming users’ cognitive defenses, making them more susceptible to manipulation.
32. The sheer volume and variety of structured and unstructured telemetry data available can be overwhelming for organizations. Effective data governance, quality control, and security monitoring processes are critical to deriving meaningful insights from this telemetry data.[26][27]
33. Endpoint telemetry is data collected from user devices, applications, and systems within an organization.[25]
34. Network telemetry is data gathered from network devices, traffic flows, and network security monitoring.[25]
35. Identity and access telemetry is data related to user authentication, access, and identity management.[25]
36. Cloud infrastructure telemetry is data from cloud-based infrastructure components like virtual machines, storage, and networking.[25]
37. SaaS application telemetry is data from cloud-based software services used by organizations.[25]
38. Security and risk telemetry is data related to security incidents, vulnerabilities, and other risk factors.[25]
39. Behavioral telemetry is detailed data on user interactions, activities, and experiences collected through digital products and services.[1][2][3]
40. Environmental telemetry is data about the surrounding environment, such as from “smart” devices like breathing machines.[25]
41. Personalization telemetry is data used to enable highly customized and personalized products, services, and experiences.[1][25]
42. By Any Means: The business model of surveillance capitalism, which prioritizes profit over privacy, has incentivized these companies to increase their knowledge about users “by whatever means” in order to better predict and influence their behavior. This has enabled the suppression of views and websites that do not align with their commercial interests.[42]
43. Predictive telemetry is data leveraged to predict and modify future user behaviors.[1][2][3]
44. Operationalizing “unnatural selection”: Surveillance capitalism transforms “natural selection” into an “unnatural selection” process, using dehumanized methods of evaluation to produce the desired behavioral outcomes.[10]
45. Herding users along profitable paths: Surveillance capitalists employ subtle psychological techniques to “herd” users towards behaviors that maximize the extraction of “behavioral surplus” for their benefit.[10]
46. Subliminal cues and nudges: Examples of how surveillance capitalists use subtle, subliminal cues to influence user choices without their awareness, include displaying how many others are browsing the same dates on Airbnb.[29]
47. Microtargeting and persuasive technology: Surveillance capitalists leverage detailed user data to microtarget individuals with personalized content and offers designed to influence and modify their behavior.[25][29]
48. Exploiting psychological vulnerabilities: microtargeting can be used to exploit psychological biases and vulnerabilities, by delivering content and messaging tailored to trigger specific emotional responses or reinforce existing beliefs and behaviors.[30]
49. Surveillance capitalists use personalization and customization techniques to exploit individual psychological vulnerabilities. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon collect vast amounts of detailed data on user behavior, preferences, and experiences. They then use this data to create highly personalized products, services, and experiences tailored to each individual user. This allows them to trigger certain emotional responses or reinforce existing beliefs and behaviors.[1][31]
50. Confirmation bias: Surveillance capitalists have learned to exploit confirmation bias for profit using personalized content and messaging to reinforce users’ existing beliefs and behaviors, exploiting their tendency towards confirmation bias.[19]
51. Dependency and loss aversion: By breaking the traditional reciprocal relationship between firms and populations, surveillance capitalists foster a dynamic of dependency that makes users more vulnerable to behavioral modification.[32]
52. Optimism bias: Rhetoric of surveillance capitalists has involved “misdirection, euphemism, and obfuscation” to present their practices as inevitable technological progress, exploiting users’ optimism bias.[33]
53. Framing effects: Surveillance capitalists leverage highly personalized framing and presentation of content and offers to influence users’ perceptions and decision-making.[52][19][34]
54. Social proof and conformity: The search results indicate that surveillance capitalists have used techniques like “win a dinner with Obama” contests to leverage social proof and conformity to shape user behavior.[34]
55. Normal and popular: By creating the perception that certain behaviors or choices are popular, normal, or endorsed by influential figures, surveillance capitalists can leverage social proof and conformity to nudge users towards desired actions and outcomes. This allows them to subtly control and modify behavior in ways that benefit their commercial interests, often without users being fully aware of the psychological manipulation at play.
56. Abnormal and unpopular: Gaslighting and devaluing by manipulators (e.g. algorithms) employed by surveillance capitalists may try to make users feel guilty, confused, or like they are “ungrateful” or “making them unhappy” for engaging in unprofitable behaviors.[35]
57. Specific manipulative tactics: Tactics used by manipulators employed by surveillance capitalists include gaslighting, denial, lying, blaming, criticizing, exaggerating, withholding, and more. These are described as common manipulative behaviors.[36]
58. Humans agents(?): Results suggest manipulative aspects of surveillance capitalism are a core part of its business model and institutional logic, rather than the result of secret employment of manipulators.[3] Search results acknowledge the “cat-and-mouse game” between surveillance capitalists and those trying to resist their tactics, they do not indicate that “human controllers” are employed as a countermeasure.[37]
59. Retaining Users: To maximize the value for advertisers, companies “need to capture the user” for as long as possible on a website or application and this is achieved by applying knowledge of human psychology.
60. Isolating users from outside perspectives: Manipulators may try to isolate users from friends, family, and other outside influences that could provide alternative viewpoints. This isolation makes users more susceptible to the narrative that unprofitable behaviors are abnormal and undesirable.
61. Monopolization of human experience: Surveillance capitalists have unilaterally claimed people’s lived experiences and translated them into proprietary data flows that are used to generate highly profitable prediction products.[39][18] This includes capturing data on people’s online activities, offline behaviors, physical movements, conversations, and even emotions.[39][18]
62. Market Domination: Surveillance capitalists have built dominant market positions and monopolistic control over the channels of social participation, such as social media platforms and search engines.[10][33] This gives them unprecedented power to shape human behavior and erode individual autonomy.[10][33]
63. Active Manipulation: The competitive dynamics of surveillance capitalism have driven firms to amass huge volumes of data and intervene directly in human action to “herd, tune, and modify behavior” for profit.[10][33] This represents a shift from simply monitoring behavior to actively manipulating it.[10][33]
64. They Know You Better than You Do: The knowledge asymmetries created by surveillance capitalism – where firms know far more about individuals than individuals know about the firms – introduce new forms of social inequality and undermine the processes of individual autonomy essential for democracy.[10][33]
65. Hiding the Scam: Surveillance capitalism uses “digital misdirection” to focus attention away from how personal data is being exploited.[40]
66. Elite Firms: A small number of firms has gain exclusive concentrations of knowledge and power over human experience, which they leverage for profit rather than in service of the public good.[10][18][33][39]
67. Top Surveillance Capitalists: The current top human corporate surveillance capitalists according to search results are: Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the founders of Google, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and investor, Andrew Bosworth, the creator of Facebook’s News Feed. [41]
68. Who Else Benefits Most: Thousands of engineers, data scientists, machine learning researchers, product managers, and other tech professionals profit from surveillance capitalism at companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Also profiting are corporate lawyers, in-house economists, UX designers, and tech consultants who legitimize and rationalize the practices of surveillance capitalism. Additionally, there are university professors with surveillance capitalism research appointments. Proifts also go to data brokers who sell personal information like directories of rape victims or genetic disease sufferers. Also mentioned are executives and shareholders of companies that engage in surveillance capitalism across various industries, from health insurance to home robotics.
69. Prioritizing profit over human well-being: The search results emphasize how surveillance capitalism “thrives at the expense of human nature” in the same way industrial capitalism flourished at the expense of the natural environment.
70. Threat Assessment: Surveillance capitalism poses several grave threats that could ultimately destroy humanity: Undermining human autonomy and agency – by claiming human experiences as raw material for profit, it erodes the fundamental rights and freedoms that define our humanity.[39] Concentration of power in the hands of a few tech giants threatens to overthrow the sovereignty of the people. Surveillance capitalists have discovered ways to “intervene in human action to coax, tune, herd, and modify behavior in the direction of guaranteed outcomes.” This profoundly anti-democratic power subverts free will and self-determination. It poses an existential threat to our species and to our democratic way of life.
What Can Consumers Do?
By reading this article, you have taken the first step towards understand the seriousness and scope of the situation. In essence, the search results portray surveillance capitalists as systematically exploiting a range of psychological biases – from confirmation bias to social proof – in order to manipulate user behavior for commercial gain, often in ways that undermine individual autonomy and democratic processes. The key is to reassert human autonomy, democratic sovereignty, and the public interest over the predatory logic of surveillance capitalism through a combination of legal, technological, political, and social reforms. This will require a fundamental rethinking of the relationship between individuals, corporations, and the state in the digital age.
Risk Benefit Analysis
A risk-benefit analysis of posting a message about surveillance capitalism on social media should consider the potential benefits of raising awareness about the issue and encouraging ethical practices in the tech industry, as well as the risks of backlash or criticism from those who support or benefit from the current data-driven economy.
The benefits of posting the message include:
- Raising awareness about the negative impacts of surveillance capitalism and encouraging ethical practices in the tech industry
- Encouraging discussion and debate about the issue, which could lead to increased understanding and support for regulation and transparency
- Positioning the poster as a thought leader and advocate for ethical practices in the tech industry
The risks of posting the message include:
- Backlash or criticism from those who support or benefit from the current data-driven economy, including individuals who work in the industry or use social media platforms for marketing or branding purposes
- Potential legal or reputational risks if the message is perceived as defamatory or damaging to specific companies or individuals
- The possibility of the message being ignored or dismissed by those who are unaware of or unconcerned about the issue of surveillance capitalism
Overall, the benefits of posting the message may outweigh the risks, especially if the poster is prepared to handle any backlash or criticism that may arise. However, it is important to approach the issue with caution and awareness, and to be prepared to defend the message and provide evidence to support the claims made. Additionally, it may be helpful to consider the potential risks and benefits of different ways of sharing the message, such as through automated social media posting or manual posting, and to weigh these factors carefully before making a decision.
Citations
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1057/jit.2015.5
[2] https://newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2019/01/22/surveillance-capitalism/
[3] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26317877221129290
[4] https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/surveillance-capitalism
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook
[6] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/shoshana-zuboff-q-and-a-the-age-of-surveillance-capital.html
[7] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/putting-the-capitalism-in-surveillance-capitalism
[8] https://thebaffler.com/latest/capitalisms-new-clothes-morozov
[9] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1057/jit.2015.5
[10] https://newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2019/01/22/surveillance-capitalism/
[11] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26317877221129290
[12] https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=all_doctoral
[13] https://www.academia.edu/43229446/Shoshana_Zuboff_The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capitalism_The_Fight_for_a_Human_Future_at_the_New_Frontier_of_Power
[14] https://lsj.com.au/articles/surveillance-capitalism-a-risk-to-privacy-and-security/
[15] https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-semantics-of-surveillance-capitalism-much-ado-about-something/
[16] https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/37370640/Jasmin%20Frankel%20Surveillance%20Capitalism%20and%20the%20Right%20to%20Be%20Forgotten%20Does%20the%20General%20Data%20Protection%20Regulation%20or%20the%20California%20Consumer%20Privacy%20Act%20Better%20Protect%20Individual%E2%80%99s%20Data%20Privacy%20in%20a%20Surveillance%20Economy.pdf?isAllowed=n&sequence=1
[17] https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/speeches/2021/sp-d_20210616/
[18] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/04/shoshana-zuboff-surveillance-capitalism-assault-human-automomy-digital-privacy
[19] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18908728
[20] https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/06/10/radical-indifference-how-surveillance-capitalism-conquered-our-lives/
[21] https://lithub.com/what-does-privacy-really-mean-under-surveillance-capitalism/
[22] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ggwv5YiRmE
[23] https://thebaffler.com/latest/capitalisms-new-clothes-morozov
[24] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/surveillance-capitalism-who-is-watching-us-online-and-why-1.5791546
[25] https://pressbooks.palni.org/writingfordigitalmedia/chapter/surveillance-capitalism/
[26] https://news.sap.com/2024/02/driving-customers-business-outcomes-telemetry/
[27] https://www.sophos.com/en-us/cybersecurity-explained/telemetry
[28] https://news.sap.com/2024/02/driving-customers-business-outcomes-telemetry/
[29] https://www.shortform.com/blog/shoshana-zuboff-on-surveillance-capitalism/
[30] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/microtargeting-dipayan-ghosh/
[31] https://news.mit.edu/2023/study-microtargeting-politics-tailored-ads-0621
[32] https://www.feedough.com/what-is-microtargeting/
[33] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/03/harvard-professor-says-surveillance-capitalism-is-undermining-democracy/
[34] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalism
[35] https://psychcentral.com/lib/tactics-manipulators-use-to-win-and-confuse-you
[36] https://www.verywellhealth.com/manipulative-behavior-5214329
[37] https://computingwithinlimits.org/2019/papers/limits19-landwehr.pdf
[38] S. C. Matz, M. Kosinski, G. Nave, and D. J. Stillwell. Psychological targeting as an effective approach to digital mass persuasion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(48):12714–12719, 2017
[39] https://www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/surveillance-capitalism-exploiting-behavioral-data-by-shoshana-zuboff-2020-01
[40] https://mysudo.com/2020/07/the-rise-of-surveillance-capitalism-or-whatever-happened-to-my-internet-free-will/
[41] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/putting-the-capitalism-in-surveillance-capitalism
[42] https://www.psephizo.com/life-ministry/what-is-wrong-with-surveillance-capitalism/
[43] https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/10/12/the-benefits-and-risks-of-automated-social-media-posting/?sh=58d474984543
[44] https://reciprocity.com/blog/effective-social-media-risk-management/
[45] https://khoros.com/blog/6-step-plan-implementing-social-media-risk-management-solution
[46] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050921001903
[47] https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/5-benefits-social-media-risk-management-program