Thanks for that. The miss use of technology, remember Windows shrink wrap licencing and Apples forcing of itunes, was one of the main reasons for my venturing in to free software and installing Debian all those years ago. Things have moved on from there and the challenges have changed. Now we have the threat of non free hardware and surveillance that leads to data having more value than oil. The miss use of our data undermine the very fabric of the free world. We free software users are part of the front line defending it.
Shoshana Zuboff: Surveillance Capitalism and Our Democracy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJwf6oLvc2Qhttps://guardianbookshop.com/age-of-sur ... alism.html?
Book description
I will make a guarantee: Assuming we survive to tell the tale, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism has a high probability of joining the likes Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Max Weber's Economy and Society as defining social-economics texts of modern times. It is not a 'quick read;' it is to be savored and re-read and discussed with colleagues and friends. No zippy one-liners from me, except to almost literally beg you to read/ingest this book -Tom Peters author of In Search of Excellence
Society is at a turning point. The heady optimism that accompanied the advent of the Internet is gone replaced by a deep unease. Technologies that were meant to liberate us have exacerbated social inequalities and stoked explosive political climates across the world. Tech companies gather our information online and sell it to the highest bidder, whether government or retailer. In this world of surveillance capitalism, profit depends not only on predicting our behaviour but modifying it too. How will this fusion of capitalism and the digital shape our values and define our future?
Shoshana Zuboff shows that we are at a critical juncture. We still have the power to decide what kind of world we want to live in, and what we decide now will shape the rest of the century. Our choices: allow technology to enrich the few and impoverish the many, or harness it and distribute its benefits.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply-reasoned examination of the threat of unprecedented power free from democratic oversight. As it explores this new capitalism's impact on society, politics, business, and technology, it exposes the fundamental struggles that will decide both the next chapter of capitalism and the meaning of information civilization. Most critically, it shows how we can protect ourselves and our communities ensuring we are the masters of the digital rather than its slaves.