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

FORTHCOMING
EVENTS

BCAS – E-Learning Platform
(https://bcasonline.courseplay.co/)

For more details, please contact Javed Siddique at 022
– 61377607 or email to events@bcasonline.org