Breaking News: Can Open, Worms Everywhere!

Due to the widely accepted belief that the speed of Internet progress has outstripped legislative process, it is unsurprising that Internet aggregators are able to compile more data than many would prefer. Personally, I understand the risks of tracking, and go to some lengths to avoid leaving a snail trail across the Internet. Although it can be unsettling when recent Amazon items I’ve been browsing start popping up when I’m reading current events, I’m not under the impression that the targeted advertising has a substantial impact on my life. The expanded prevalence of data aggregators is indeed a shocking and upsetting revelation to many, but before flipping on the public emergency sirens, it’s worth taking a closer read of some of the consequences. What goes unmentioned in the George Orwell Meet Mark Zuckerberg chapter, is the potential benefits of targeted information.

The text poses the question “… If we are all reading a different, narrow range of articles, how can we participate in a civic democracy?” This question feels a bit disingenuous, as it glides down a slippery slope in which we’ve reached a society where no one reads the same headlines, or engages in more widely applicable topics of discussion. Yes, algorithms and data design allows us to increase in higher levels of specificity, but at the same time the Internet is still a very powerful tool for sharing information with others, regardless of their algorithmic paradigm. Targeted media and targeted advertising in some way affect what I view, but they do not wholly determine what I’m interested in, and do not necessarily lead to a disengaged, fragmented population incapable of democratic process.

Having put most of my 20’s into real estate finance, I believe that I can say with some authority a few of the issues raised in the chapter in relation to credit scores are indeed frightening. The fact that the credit card company can cut your limit based upon pretty much whatever metric they feel is applicable, is a problem. It’s no trivial matter when someone’s credit score drops below a certain cut off. I’ve seen people lose their homes by being unable to secure new financing because a credit card cut their limit, thus increasing their debt to high credit ratio, and then lowering their credit score as a natural consequence. That being said, giving different rate quotations based upon ZIP Code is totally reasonable, and is unfairly demonized in the chapter. ZIP Code has a whole lot to do with mortgage rates, as they vary from state to state and sometimes by areas within states. This is not new, is not a dynamic created by the Internet, and seems like a scare tactic more than a reasonable problem.

As discussed in class, a census machine possessed by the Nazis during World War II was utilized for efficient categorization and genocide. That same census machine technology was used to aggregate accurate data about a population, which could be used to improve infrastructure. It seems reasonable that a technology must be analyzed in terms of the complete spectrum of its consequences, good and bad. Monitoring capability that allows Google to find out if I’m logging into my email from Timbuktu instead of Berkeley is the same technology which can be used to monitor my movements for area specific advertising. It’s important to remember that benefits and the consequences often go hand-in-hand. Although we can change legislation in order to protect identity and privacy, we have entered into a new societal paradigm, and it’s going to be very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.