Personal autonomy and surveillance capitalism: possible future developments

TL;DR

This paper examines how surveillance capitalism, driven by social media and data extraction, threatens human autonomy by influencing behaviors and opinions, highlighting the need for awareness and potential action.

Contribution

It analyzes the threat to personal autonomy posed by surveillance capitalism and discusses possible future implications if current practices continue unchallenged.

Findings

Surveillance capitalism exploits user data for commercial gain.

Algorithms influence user feelings and opinions.

Unchecked practices threaten individual independence.

Abstract

The rise of social media and the increase in the computational capabilities of computers have allowed tech companies such as Facebook and Google to gather incredibly large amounts of data and to be able to extract meaningful information to use for commercial purposes. Moreover, the algorithms behind these platforms have shown the ability to influence feelings, behaviors, and opinions, representing a serious threat to the independence of their users. All of these practices have been referred to as "surveillance capitalism", a term created by Shoshana Zuboff. In this paper I focus on the threat imposed on the autonomy of human beings in the context of surveillance capitalism, providing both an analysis of the reasons why this threat exists and what consequences we could face if we take no action against such practices.