Editorial

The New Oil, The Rig And The Extraction

Over the centuries mankind found things that were considered rare and precious. The Native Americans exchanged their gold for mirrors which the Spanish brought with them to the new continent. Napoleon III is believed to have used aluminium vessels instead of gold cutlery, as it was believed to be rare. When oil found its new use in the twentieth century, it was named ‘black gold.’ Oil transformed nomadic economies into some of the wealthiest ones. Today, data is the new oil.

Recently, Facebook CEO was questioned publicly by the US lawmakers. The testimony has raised several questions. Four areas for public and regulatory consideration can be placed under the following:

1. Collection of data

2. Protection of data

3. Individual Privacy

4. Data use – propaganda, surveillance, manipulation

The world of technology is fast, vast and tangled for a lay user. As of January 2018, about 4 billion people use the internet, 3 billion active social media users and 5 billion unique mobile users around the world. Questions about privacy and secrecy of personal data are critical. The EU is implementing GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) from 26^th May 2018. The GDPR has extra territorial applicability, massive fine (higher of 4% of annual turnover or Euro 20m) and onus of clarity in the consent is on the data processers.

As citizens we are a subject matter of possible if not actual digital surveillance although some of it comes across as convenience. Consider these examples we can relate to:

1. Say you wish to buy a product. You enter the words ‘Apple Cider Vinegar price’ in your browser. For next several hours or days the application you use show advertisements selling that product.

2. I was travelling outside India. My phone did not have data, wifi or local sim card. I was using the phone only for its camera. I returned to my hotel, turned on the wifi and started to look at the pictures I had taken during the day. Each picture showed with it, the location where it was taken.

3. I was looking out for a new car. I searched and clicked on a link on a browser. The website asks me my location.

Knowing about who you are, what you do, where you go, what you buy, what you like and what you pay is invaluable. Today, YOU are the new oil – the subject matter of digital data collection. Data about you is saleable and fetches big bucks. Although some services come ‘free’, they could be collecting your data in return and making use of that data to suit their objectives. As a popular quote goes: ‘If you’re not paying for it, you are not the customer; you are the product being sold.’

Data today can be used to control us – our minds, opinions, judgements, and decisions. By knowing vulnerabilities of people, technology can manipulate our individual and collective psyche to the advantage of some. Recent reports show that personal data was sold and personal data was used to manipulate elections. We all know how social media is used for propaganda, fake news and to influence public opinion.

Today Facebook has 1.44 billion monthly active users (MAU). That is 188 million more than India’s population. Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook put together have market capitalisation more than $3 Trillion. That means these companies collectively are larger than individual GDPs of France, India, UK and Italy. However, these aren’t nations or cooperatives; they are corporations with private ownership. Some are even monopolies, but they seem like neutral public forums or platforms. Today we are faced with the question: When we use an app, is it simply a ‘pass through’ or is it a ‘gate keeper’ who controls what we should see?

One of the US lawmakers raised an important question to the Facebook CEO – It is not about would you do it, it is about could you do it! When we give access to our personal data on the phone, say our contacts, do we know what that data will be used for? How secured it is? When we press ‘I agree’, we hardly know what we are consenting to!

If data were new oil, your devices and apps could well be the oil rigs. The feed you see could probably be a feed organised by some vested interest – for propaganda, fake news or influencing your decision. If individual freedom and liberty were to remain supreme in the digital age, individual privacy cannot be disregarded. And if one were to ask about the value of privacy, answer these questions – Do you like to be spied on, stalked, watched or manipulated? Who would you want to give the right to watch you and to what extent? What will be the dos and don’ts that you would want an entity to follow with the information you shared?

There is no doubt that the gains of technology outweigh most other drawbacks. At the same time, there is no legacy more precious than individual freedom and liberty. Remaining a ‘private’ citizen is a challenge today. The question is can we even choose to be one? 

Raman Jokhakar

Editor

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