Changes

Privacy is, indeed, a way for users to regain some control. But privacy is just a salve, not a solve for the dynamics below the tip of the iceberg. With so many parties rallying around privacy today, we need to shine a light on the fact that people have been made powerless.

A “data rush” is attracting new players from environments beyond traditional technology. They’re making use of masses of data, innovating ‘smart’ tools to collect more. From smart cars to smart cities, from fitness trackers to toasters, the Internet is now far beyond the browser. These new technologies are Trojan Horses for always-on data collection and manipulation.

There is a huge asymmetry of capacity and information between Google and 1 billion unique Google users. This leaves little space for collective sense-making, organizing, and action. Making matters worse, algorithms are continuously dismantling a sense of collective cohesion between people, further fractionalizing our power against the corporate hegemony.

Today, innovation is still happening faster than legislation can keep track of—which often means regulators find themselves reacting to situations, instead of proactively laying out the rules. From GDPR to CCPA, these policies are reacting to a scenario with marginal protections at best and unintended consequences at worst.