“We think these services [Google, Facebook etc] are free… …but they think WE are free!” “We think we’re using social media… …but social media is using us! (97% of Fb revenue is from targeted ads.)” “We think we’re searching Google… …but Google is searching us!” “We think the companies have… Continue reading
“Google says it received 43,683 US government requests for user data from 124,991 accounts in 2018, and provided the data in in 81 per cent of those requests. ” (Computing, 10 Oct 2019) Zuboff identifies “behavioural surplus” as the source of Google and Facebook’s revenue from their “free” services (and… Continue reading
Shoshana Zuboff has written a fascinating analysis of how Google and Facebook’s methods of extracting money from their “free” products involve a very deep and unprecedented seizing of private and personal information from all of us who use Google, Facebook, Microsoft etc products. (It is a hefty book: 691pp –… Continue reading