The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

Surveillance capitalism isn’t technology but a logic that drives technology, commanding its actions.

Today, technological progress has created new fields of peril and of invasions of privacy. The emerging information civilization poses the question, “Can the digital future be our home?” 

Engineers and computer scientists developed the idea of the “aware home” back in 2002 to study the concept of ubiquitous computing. Networked sensors placed in wearable computers captured information.Today, the Nest thermostat – developed by Google’s holding company, Alphabet – monitors and learns the behaviors of a home’s inhabitants. It can collect data from connected devices, including beds, ovens, cars, and fitness trackers.

These networked, WiFi-enabled devices store vast amounts of personal data. That data creates power. Determining who controls that power is a defining feature of surveillance capitalism. A smart device’s user must agree to complex privacy policies, terms of service, and licensing agreements which, merely for the network of connected devices and apps that support Nest, require the thermostat...