Episode 14 of #theELORE touched upon a large topic (sector of economy I should say) that’s on a lot of peoples mind these days. However, we often get carried away thinking that it’s so beyond us, it’s hard to understand, unless you’re a genius. If you’re thinking that, “hey I know how to use most technology and it’s not that difficult,” you’re not wrong. However, what I want to look at is how often we overlook how this technology came to be and understand what is actually happening behind the curtains (not talking about the actual components of your smartphone).
If you’ve seen the 2017 Oscar nominated movie ‘Hidden Figures’ you probably remember the scene in which NASA was finally able to send a human into space and have them safely land back on Earth. Soon after that, Taraji P. Henson’s character was let go because she was no longer needed and during that conversation Kevin Costner, her boss, says, “Progress is a double edged sword.” This quote resonated with me and I believe makes perfect sense for our situation. While such advancements are being made with big data and relating them to human behavioral patterns, it’s also important to recognize the type of information you're putting out there. This means knowing what kind of information is useful to companies like #Facebook and #Google. If you know what sort of information they are looking for, then you have an idea how that information is used to manipulate you to either buy products and services, or to expose you to polarized views to shape your biases.
The more we know, the less technology controls us.
Now I’m not saying to go through every sentence of each term and condition agreement you consent to (technically we should), but you should at least look up what sort of data a company may be collecting (ex. online retailers such as #Amazon track your every click and see how long you spend looking at a specific article of clothing, Facebook notices which news articles/videos you look at instead of scrolling through them, etc). It's not that hard to understand what happening behind the scenes. Imagine going to #Zara and having one of the staff follow you around the entire time, quietly noting down what tops you look. After doing that a few times, they will have a general idea of what you like. Amazon does the same thing, but with millions of customers at the same time. Then using looking at large patterns, they can target specific products to specific demographics. The more you click on the targeted ads, the more you enforce the pattern and repeat the cycle.
Some might say that it’s okay and that they are simply using my behavior to provide me with products/service I might like. However, what if they were able to change or enforce your political and/or religious views by tracking you. Facebook is the biggest offender of that with recent 2016 US presidential elections meddling (look it up, it's too much to explain here). They were able to shape your political views by feeding you polarizing news. Now that may be trigger some red flags. However, it’s important to realize that Facebook is merely the tool being used to push certain agendas. While Imran, Mobeen, and Aftab are correct about lack of restraining policy when it comes such technology, it is not non-existent. UK lawmakers have been able to add a key piece of legislation into their DATA Protection Act as of 2012; any user has the right to ask for all the information a company may have on them and the company must comply. That means if you lived in England, you can reach out to Tinder and they would provide you with 200 pages of data (yes, tinder knows a lot about you) they have on you and how they use it. This may not stop the companies from collecting data but, it does keep them aware that you have access to their data of you. It also keeps you in check on how to use technology and make sure it doesn’t control you – Ignorance is not bliss.
Our neighbours across the pond also have an edge on us when it comes to #FinTech. While we may have a few companies like Simplii financial and WealthSimple, they are several such small companies operating with the country, providing direct financial services before it was introduced in North America. So it’s safe to say that their law has not held back progress but has also provided cautionary warning to any data mining companies. The Canadian counterpart, our financial services regulating body has kept a strict leash on new technologies being used by banks. In a way, this made sure that no bank had a new technology (ex cheque deposits through your phone) that the other big 5 banks could not access. This has been holding us back but also gives us a chance to examine and test the tech before putting to use for the masses.
Ignoring the process of how this technology is used on us is giving these tech giants a big pass on their accountability.
Therefore, the more we know, the less technology controls us.
Rahim
@rahimaslam
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