Privacy pt. 1: Introduction
To be clear, I’m specifically talking about data/online privacy. Privacy exists in so many other contexts too.
Just because you have nothing to hide doesn’t mean it’s not important
I hear this sentiment all the time from people who try to detract away from the value of privacy.
Privacy is a human right
Regardless of what you’re doing, there is an underlying truth that you should be able to live your life autonomously and free from constant surveillance.
Ironically, more than any other human right, privacy tends to fly under the radar the most and is often forgotten. Consequently, it is one of the most frequently violated.
This assumes the governing organization has your best interest in mind
I’m not going to go into the United States Federal Government side of this argument. That aspect of things tends to be very conspiratorial and controversial. That isn’t something I’m looking to spread.
Fortunately, I don’t have to as much of the internet is governed by for-profit companies who, very openly, prioritize their financial gains above their customer’s interests.
Informed Consent
Controversial opinion, if you don’t fully understand the consequences of giving up your privacy, I don’t think you can consent to giving it up. Merely being 18+ and clicking agree to the terms and conditions isn’t true consent without knowledge of what you’re truly signing up for.
What can you do with data
Why does this matter? What’s the point? Who am even talking to?
I am so very fortunate to have an amazing mother who also happens to be a former behavior analyst. This has nothing to do with what I’m writing about, I just wanted to flex how cool my mom is.
But human behavior is a very big topic in the world of data analysis. Maybe one day I’ll do a whole post explaining some of the cool predictions you can make using it, but for now, I’ll give you a very simplified explanation of it.
Imagine you have a graph. You have point A at (1, 3), you also have point B at (2, 6), where do you think point C is? It could be at either (3, 9) or (3, 12) depending on whether the pattern is linear or exponential. That is the core of behavior analysis in the context of computers. It’s noticing patterns and trends in a given set of data and using them to predict future data points. As you use your devices, you are training these algorithms to learn who you are.
Fun fact: this is very similar to how ChatGPT works. ChatGPT is trained on almost all the writing freely available on the internet. When you say something to ChatGPT, it’s not actually thinking about what you said. It just looks at what you said and tries to predict what would logically follow that based on its training data. Because its training data is so vast, it is very convincing at responding in a way that sounds human with accurate knowledge. But there’s no “thought” going on. This is also why ChatGPT is bad at complex math. It isn’t working through the problem like a human would. It’s trying to predict what would the answer might be based on similar looking problems in its training data. To personify it, ChatGPT is more concerned with getting an answer that looks right rather than one that actually is. This idea of training to predict the most likely result is the basis for most AI.
Interestingly enough, before we could ever talk to AI, it was used to predict, study, and monetize our behavior.
While quantitative behavioral analysis can be done manually by humans, it’s at its best when it’s performed by machine. Thousands of data points are gathered from every action you take online. This data details everything you’re interested in, concerned about, and apathetic of. As well as the things you aren’t. This includes everything you search, every app you open, every website you visit, every message you send, and the amount of time you spend doing each action. From there, metrics like “engagement”, “enjoyment”, and “satisfaction” can be derived.
To bring it back down to earth, this is looking at what you enjoyed yesterday and what you enjoy today, and using it to predict what you’ll enjoy tomorrow.
As things have progressed, the diversity of data being collected has only widened and the specificity to which that data is categorized has only deepened. If you’re anywhere near TikTok, you’ve probably heard of the “sides” of TikTok. BookTok, MovieTok, BlackTok, Trad-WifeTok, etc. We’re now at a point where it isn’t just preferences, it’s whole identities. It’s looking at who you were yesterday and who you are today, and using that to predict the person you’ll become tomorrow.
That’s some next-level shit. Btw, it’s not just TikTok doing that. They’re just an easy target. Every American tech company does this as well.
Personally, I think the reason the Government targets TikTok isn’t to protect American citizens, it’s because TikTok threatens its monopoly on American data. I’d be much more worried about the companies on US soil doing the same thing, but now we’re back in conspiracy territory.
This is why sometimes it feels like your phone is listening to you. Most people have had an experience where their phone suggests something moments after they’ve spoken about it. Honestly, that’d be less creepy than what’s happening in reality. Because the truth is, whether or not your phone was anywhere near you, it would still know what you were talking about
You have to keep this in mind with every account you sign up for. It’s not just your email address and your phone number you’re giving up, it’s a piece of who you are and who you’ll become. There’s a great saying about this, “if the service is free, you’re the product”.
Final thoughts
I want to be clear in writing this that I’m not trying to attack any specific company or industry. In a world where consumers are accustomed to free services, often the only way a company can be profitable and competitive is by selling user data. Google Search, Google Maps, YouTube, Spotify, Notion, Instagram, and even TikTok are all amazing tools and services. It’s even more amazing that all of these things can be accessed for free. We need to consider the true cost of this “free” software and question whether this should be the norm.
In later posts, I’ll detail ways to protect your privacy online.
Also, a big thank you to anyone who read this far, I know these posts can get kinda lengthy.