Google doesn't sell you anything -- they sell you. Your data. You are the product.
Privacy and data. Important topics, and as alluded to briefly in TECHNOLOGY TRANSIENCE AND LEARNER DATA Shifting Notions of Privacy in Online Learning (Dennen, 2015), grossly under-legislated. Let me expand upon that a bit. "Both of these acts [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act] predate many of the digital tools currently deployed in educational settings, and were not designed to regulate their use" (Dennen, 2015). These laws were created back when technology was not what it is today and were not created to protect those in the online spaces that now exist.
Imagine this being the conversation and understanding of the internet. This is what many laws and regulations regarding privacy, data, and big tech are based upon. Even as there have been conversations around updating our laws to better reflect technology today, those in charge do not always have the most informed understanding.
Congress and Google CEO in 2018
Congress and Facebook Creator in 2018
When congress asked Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, how the platform can make any money without charging those for using their product in a 2018 hearing, Zuckerberg sits for a minute before informing the Senator that Facebook runs ads. The stifled laughter from him and those around him in this moment is painful.
The first large-scale mechanism for targeted advertising came from Google tracking users' search history to make money. Google doesn't sell you anything. They don't require you to pay for their apps such as Gmail or Google Docs. YouTube and Blogger are free for anyone to make accounts. All of these streams of data come together to make one digital footprint that they can leverage to sell to advertisers. Facebook operates in the same way. On Facebook, you provide your demographic information and then select the types of people you surround yourself with. You interact with media on Facebook and Instagram as do your connections. All of these actions work together to culminate in a very specific profile on who you are as a person to then sell to advertisers.
If you have any desire to look into the subject further, I highly recommend the documentary, The Creepy Line. The title comes from a quote from former Google CEO that explains that Google's policies are built upon the understanding that they get right up to the creepy line, but not cross it. You can watch The Creepy Line for free online via Tubi.
References: Dennen, V.P., 2015. Technology transience and learner data: Shifting notions of privacy in online learning. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 16(2), pp.45-60.
This is the first time this week I have made this connection between our tech and privacy, and the laws surrounding our data and privacy, and how out of touch Congress is due to their age. Watching the Today show video clip had me laughing at how the conversation sounds now 25 years later, but most of the people who were questioning Zuckerberg at the hearing probably had conversations very similar to Katie Couric and the rest of the anchors. I really loved the quote from the video about how by 2000 all businesses (small and large) will be online. Fast forward to 2020, and the pandemic really brought that to life. Mom and pop shops that could not adapt to selling online quickly suffered more than businesses who had already adapted to the internet.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I enjoyed the connection between our legislatures and their knowledge of the internet and how this affects the privacy laws we have.
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