Privately owned cloud computing and user devices give companies compete control over our digital environment
In the new world of computing, we are no longer expected to manage our computing enviroment. We trust our feudal lords to treat us well and protect us from harm. Then our online data makes us a product which internet companies sell to their real customers. Its all a result of two trechnological trends.
The first is the rise of cloud computing. Basically, our data is no longer stored and processed on our own computers. That all happens on servers owned by many different companies, and the result is that we lose control over our data. These companies access our data—both content and metadata—for whatever profitable purpose they want. They have carefully crafted terms of service that dictate whatr sort of data can be stored on their systems, and can delete our entire accounts if they believe we have violated them. And they turn our data over to law enforcement without our knowledge or consent.
The second trend is the rise of user devices that are managed closely by its vendors. The result is that we no longer control our computing enviroment. We have ceded control over what we can see, do, and use. Apple has rules about what software can be installed on IOS devices. You can load your own documents into kindle, but Amazon is able to delete books from your library that it has already sold you. In 2009, Amazon automatically deleted some editions of George Orwell’s 1984 from users kindle devices because of a copyright. I know, you just couldn’t write this stuff any more ironically.
References
- Schneier, Bruce. (2015). Data and Goliath The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World Chapter 4. The Business of Surveillance (Location 996). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.