Flashback Friday: Your Data
How is your data being used against you?
I’ve been inspired to share some of my older media for the benefit of newer readers. Today’s theme is “Your Data” and we’ll be exploring some previous posts where I touch on data privacy and security for individuals, and how data is used against people.
Reaching back to when I started this project, I’ll be starting with the second post I wrote, all the way back at the end of 2021.
You may not mind Amazon knowing what packages you order. You may not mind Google knowing everywhere you have been. You may also be unbothered by your bank knowing your financial history. It’s not a big deal that social media networks are aware of every human that is aware of you. Surely, there is nothing wrong with further and further data collection of everything?
The trouble comes when all this information is bundled and sold off to other data warehouses to train more sophisticated AI which is then used to provide input to corporations and institutions. This isn’t simply a ‘social credit system’ this is the groundwork forSkyNet’stotal domination of humanity.That does sound extreme but consider that this data analysis won’t end with humans. We were simply the easy part because we were able to be tricked into adopting and feeding these systems.
Over the course of this project there’s a fair bit I would nit-pick in this older post, but I believe the general thrust still holds up quite well. I can clearly see the hints towards other topics I intended to (and eventually did) cover later.
Of course, when it comes to protecting information, it’s best to have good practices to keep your accounts secure! This is something I actually ended up partially re-writing in the DIY audit, but I hope write an improved stand-alone piece on this in the future. I think authentication itself is a complicated topic that itself deserves a lot more attention.
Digging Deeper into Data
Data is a big focus early on in the Tools of the Technocracy Series. This is because I believe that understanding how data is weaponized against individuals and the public at large is the foundation of understanding serious technological threats.
Data Shedding
This is very much at the forefront of my mind at the moment. With the anti-trust decision against Google, X & Rumble suing GARM, I wonder if the goal is actually saving this means of surveillance for future use. If you watch the following video, you’ll understand why breaking apart Google or taking down GARM won’t solve the serious privacy invasions from real-time personalized advertising.
I expect this to be a very important place to watch moving forward. Even Mozilla is working to preserve data-driven spying in some form or another. I believe that this is in-part a response to various means of direct payment to support independent media becoming more prominent. Even Google is getting in on it.
Backups are ESSENTIAL to keeping your information safe!
And of course, once you do have your information under your control, you’ll at least want to preserve it!
I have to admit, I don’t always understand what you’re writing about, but I do like learning, and it seems important to at the least hear the words for future recognition, so I read your posts - and appreciate them. And I luv run-on sentences.
Thanks for another treasure trove of information. I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the Shadowgate documentary.