but at least now there is regulation going on the same direction
there is no chance for international regulation
but we need help now to regulate these companies that limits competition
anti-trust
Facebook — Ebay trade
the use of data for advertising purposes
bad advertising — there is no competition
Apple gives preference to its own products on the Apple store
how they treat competitors to their own production — 30% commission fee
Apple has 30% of the market — but 100% of the market once you have an Iphone
they should allow for other app stores on their phones — we should not accept that on their phones — legislative proposal before the European parliament
“ensure a higher degree of competition in the European Digital Markets, by preventing large companies from abusing their market power and by allowing new players to enter the market”
For example:
prohibitions on combining data collected from two different services belonging to the same company (for example Facebook and WhatsApp)
provisions for the protection of platforms’ business users (including advertisers and publishers);
legal instruments against the self-preferencing methods used by platforms for promoting their own products (preferential results for Google’s products when using Google Search
articles concerning the pre-installation of some services (Google Android
In practice, this will mean new legislation regarding illegal content, transparent advertising and disinformation — address concerns of online harassment, including doxing and gender-based harassment faced by users on social media
content moderation
to make sure that what you get offline is also what you get online
that the products are safe
if your profile is taken down, there is somewhere you can go and complain about it
how do you balance freedom of speech and illegal content
while keeping stuff up that is contentious etc
there must be a complaints procedure — an independent body
liability
platforms are not liable — Facebook should not be liable for crimes, etc
We want a system for discussing these kinds of decisions
Facebook oversight board
there should be legislation about this — not just private company rules
it’s very troublesome of course
your take on technology is also a take on democracy
same mechanisms for controlling political attitudes
subliminal keys to tune us, and herd us, in the direction that benefit the companies
private experiences as the last virgin wood
transforming our daily lives
challenges social contracts
challenges human freedom
democracy is the only possible remedy
rushing down the rabbit hole … we ended up in Wonderland — everything is upside down
we can search Google — but Google is searching us
we are not using social media, social media uses us
we think of the services as free, but it is we who are free
privacy policies are surveillance policies
the mistakes are the innovations
we thought we had access to knowledge — but it is knowledge that as access to us
economies of scale — totalities of information
we need varies sources of data — economies of scope — different kinds of data
the mobility revolution
a small computer in your pocket
where you are going, who you are with
face recognition
intervening in your behavior
nudge, herd, tune you in the direction of our profits
global information, at scale, totally unprecedented
not sending people off to the Gulag
not totalitarian power
new, unprecedented, form of power
instrumentarian power
comes secretly, quietly
greets us with a cappuccino and a smile
global means of behavior modification
engine of growth
but they are not actually solving our problems?
instead all these intelligent people are using their abilities to generate corporate profits
Social Credit System
China:
like an open air prison
everything is controlled
easy to determine
who are good citizens and bad?
New regulations are needed
interrupt the incentives for the surveillance dividends
we open up competitive space for millions of people who want to produce actual knowledge, new entrepreneurship
interrupt supply — it should be illegal to transform surveillance into data — sold to military
interrupt demand — eliminate the incentives to sell predictions — we make markets that trade in human futures are illegal — other markets are illegal — they have predictably destructive consequences
they fear law and law-makers
they fear the people
a digital future that we can call home
What we consciously give away is the least of it
most of the information is not what we knowingly give away
where we are, what we think
“residual data”
but it is in the waste that all the good data is
we collect data to improve services
but even more of it is to train models — patterns of human behavior
predict what you are likely to
“behavioral surplus”
more data than is needed to improve the services
predict what food you want
sell off an ad, and send you a discount
buying shampoo
determine that a woman was pregnant
and the father sent baby-products
predict personality, emotions, political views
photos on Facebook can give predictive signals — study muscles in the face
the predictions are sold off to businesses
they operate in stealth
engineered to be undetectable
our ignorance is their bliss
Facebook, massive scale contagion experiment
using subliminal cues — to make people happier
we can change real world emotions
we can use these methods while bypassing user awareness
Pokomon Go
started in Google
but sells itself as a funny game
foot fall, get real bodies into shops
“lure module” — things that lure customers to you — Starbucks, McDonalds, everyone was making money
herd you through the city to the places that paid for your body
you don’t notice, because you are too busy being entertained
Huawei
“the internet of things”
linking all objects to all others
my washing machine
simultaneous action over a distance
surgeons operating by means of a robot
Huawei is providing the digital infrastructure
but blacklisted in the US
US companies are not allowed to deal with them
for example: access to power-grids
you have to have complete trust in those who organize the infrastructure
cf. bridges etc.
very opaque ownership structure
supposed to be owned by the employees
there is no need to answer to share holders
it is not listed on international stock exchanges
but clearly the Chinese government is involved
Undermining state autonomy
MNEs are not bound by a time and place
but China
“Great Firewall of China
blocking traffic
a way to impose censorship
but also a way to privilege domestic companies
which the government has control over
Problems for countries like Germany that fail to keep up
Issue 3: Political interference
Russian meddling in US elections
Issue 4: Military applications
Use of personal information
US govt — essential national security assets
immense troves of personal data about their users
ways of persuading them
no control over the information that is spread this way
we are too dependent on the good will of a few billionaires
they don’t profit from the truth
they are unaccountable
Political consequences
targeting voters — change the outcome of elections
11.4 million Americans saw Russian ads in favor of Trump in 2016
another 126 million Americans saw Russia backed posts on Facebook