Waarom privacy belangrijk is

Your online behavior is the raw material from which one of the biggest economies in the history of the world has been built. But it isn’t the images you post, the comments you write or the messages you send that are the hard currency. It’s the data about the data that’s the true treasure. With what’s known as metadata, the tech giants aren’t satisfied with monitoring your life – they’ve decided to control it.

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You already know which big companies collect data for commercial purposes. But the question is whether you’re aware of the absurd extent of this data collection. You can take as long as you like to think about it, but the answer is still ‘No’. Not even the companies themselves know how much data they collect, where it goes and how they should control it.

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It's not just the tech giants that carry out commercial mass surveillance. There are companies working in the shadows, with a single purpose: to collect, buy and sell data about your online activities. And the lists they offer for sale don't make pleasant reading.

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The tech giants follow every step you take regardless of whether or not you use their services. But how does it actually work when they steal your behavior and place it in huge AI and machine learning systems to build a profile of you? Here are the methods behind the surveillance.

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When the tech giants collect huge quantities of data about your internet behavior, they always hide behind defenses such as ‘it’s only metadata’ or ‘we’ve anonymized the information’. But if you collect big data, it’s impossible to keep it anonymous. It’s enough for your phone to reveal four places you’ve been to work out that it’s you.

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Democratic and authoritarian countries are competing to see which of them can carry out mass surveillance most and best (worst).

USA and their friends in the surveillance alliance Four***** Eyes have demonstrated that they have the capacity, the desire and the experience to monitor who they want, when they want, anywhere in the world. China and other totalitarian countries use mass surveillance to control their inhabitants. It often feels like a dystopian arms race is going on around the world. But who is actually the best (worst) at making George Orwell’s 1984 a reality?

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Going Dark: de oorlog tegen versleuteling neemt toe. Door een schimmige samenwerking tussen de VS en de EU.

Onder het motto 'Denk aan de kinderen' probeerde de Europese Commissie totale bewaking van alle EU-burgers in te voeren. Toen het schandaal aan het licht kwam, bleek dat Amerikaanse techbedrijven en veiligheidsdiensten betrokken waren bij het wetsvoorstel, dat algemeen bekend staat als 'Chat Control' – en dat de hele zaak werd geleid door heel andere belangen. Nu komt de volgende poging. Met het 'Going Dark'-initiatief zijn nieuwe stormrammen in stelling gebracht. Maar de ambitie is dezelfde: staatsspionagesoftware installeren op elke Europese mobiele telefoon en computer.

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Commercial and state mass surveillance collects absurd quantities of data about people all over the world. But what is all the data used for? When your internet behavior has been mapped, what might it lead to?

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Authoritarian states use mass surveillance to control the population. Even in democratic countries, we see direct consequences of collecting absurd amounts of data. But there are also less visible effects: both state and commercial mass surveillance show signs of being able to transform free societies into the complete opposite.

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The most common argument used in defense of mass surveillance is ‘If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear’. Try saying that to women in the US states where abortion has suddenly become illegal. Say it to investigative journalists in authoritarian countries. Saying ‘I have nothing to hide’ means you stop caring about anyone fighting for their freedom. And one day, you might be one of them.

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