The Online Privacy Lie Is Unraveling

Natasha Lomas, writing for TechCrunch regarding an eye-opening study from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania:

One thing is clear: the great lie about online privacy is unraveling. The obfuscated commercial collection of vast amounts of personal data in exchange for “free” services is gradually being revealed for what it is: a heist of unprecedented scale. Behind the bland, intellectually dishonest facade that claims there’s “nothing to see here” gigantic data-mining apparatus have been maneuvered into place, atop vast mountains of stolen personal data.

Stolen because it has never been made clear to consumers what is being taken, and how that information is being used. How can you consent to something you don’t know or understand? Informed consent requires transparency and an ability to control what happens. Both of which are systematically undermined by companies whose business models require that vast amounts of personal data be shoveled ceaselessly into their engines.

★ Sunday, 7 June 2015