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1/n In my new book, Technologies of Speculation, I talk about & #39;control creep& #39;: data surveillance justified for one purpose is inevitably repurposed elsewhere.
Exhibit A: Self-tracking & Internet of Things, 2007-Today. http://tiny.cc/TSbook ">https://tiny.cc/TSbook&qu...
Exhibit A: Self-tracking & Internet of Things, 2007-Today. http://tiny.cc/TSbook ">https://tiny.cc/TSbook&qu...
2/n Self-tracking technology took off as a promise that you& #39;ll own your data & use it to really understand who you are. But the massive popularity of this tech has also made it a golden goose for surveillance capitalism, opening up new frontiers of profit & manipulation.
3/n Remember when Fitbit was just a plucky startup? That was 2007, the year the Quantified Self community launched. Track your exercise and calories, live a healthier life on your own terms.
There was even a digital flower that would grow if you were doing the right things!
There was even a digital flower that would grow if you were doing the right things!
4/n But even the data’s ‘primary’ use is questionable – hence the class-action lawsuit alleging Fitbit misrepresented heart rate tracking accuracy. After all, what’s 33m in settlement fees when those big promises got you all that $ to begin with? https://time.com/4344675/fitbit-lawsuit-heart-rate-accuracy/">https://time.com/4344675/f...
5/n And the data always travels. By mid-2010& #39;s, Fitbit’s partnering w/ insurance companies. One is John Hancock, which now sells *only* data-sharing ‘interactive’ policies.
Like smartphones, there& #39;s increasingly no effective choice to opt out.
Like smartphones, there& #39;s increasingly no effective choice to opt out.
6/n Obvious next step is obvious: employers who hand out free fitbits, can use those fitbits to spy on employee health. Bosses look at your steps & workout data.
Lots more on this in @phoebemoore’s book The Quantified Self in Precarity as well. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/with-fitness-trackers-in-the-workplace-bosses-can-monitor-your-every-step--and-possibly-more/2019/02/15/75ee0848-2a45-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/...
Lots more on this in @phoebemoore’s book The Quantified Self in Precarity as well. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/with-fitness-trackers-in-the-workplace-bosses-can-monitor-your-every-step--and-possibly-more/2019/02/15/75ee0848-2a45-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/...
7/n Such control creep also enables what @karen_ec_levy @s010n call refractive surveillance. E.g a retailer may be banned from directly surveilling workers, but gather enough customer location data & they can easily triangulate worker movements through it.
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/7041/">https://ijoc.org/index.php...
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/7041/">https://ijoc.org/index.php...
8/n The book also touches on Amazon& #39;s patent for tracking wristbands.
The & #39;primary& #39; purpose? It pings warehouse workers when their hand is near the right item. Efficiency!
The horizon of potential use? Intensified worker surveillance. Efficiency!
The & #39;primary& #39; purpose? It pings warehouse workers when their hand is near the right item. Efficiency!
The horizon of potential use? Intensified worker surveillance. Efficiency!
9/n All this control creep in self-tracking that I talk about in the book mirrors what researchers have shown re. smart cities ( @jathansadowski) emotion surveillance ( @luke_stark) & algorithmic scoring ( @FrankPasquale).
The data always travels, & always finds new uses.
The data always travels, & always finds new uses.
10/n In the book, I argue that for some, “datafication might seem an empowering choice, a sovereign and individual decision to walk boldly towards the posthuman future. For others, to appear correctly in databases can be the unhappy obligation on which their lives depend."
11/n A lot has happened since I finished the book. In 2019, Google bought Fitbit for a cool 2.1B$.
Such consolidation creates massive ecosystems for data extraction. That 2.1B$ is all for new ways of getting into people’s homes & under their skin. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fitbit-m-a-google/u-s-eu-advocacy-groups-warn-against-googles-purchase-of-fitbit-idUSKBN2430D4">https://www.reuters.com/article/u...
Such consolidation creates massive ecosystems for data extraction. That 2.1B$ is all for new ways of getting into people’s homes & under their skin. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fitbit-m-a-google/u-s-eu-advocacy-groups-warn-against-googles-purchase-of-fitbit-idUSKBN2430D4">https://www.reuters.com/article/u...
12/n When the data market takes charge of the process, they also make lopsided decisions about what kinds of data gets tracked and what doesn& #39;t.
Today, Amazon tracks Whole Foods employee movements to try and predict stores & #39;at risk& #39; of unionising. https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-tracks-unionization-risk-with-heat-map-2020-1">https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foo...
Today, Amazon tracks Whole Foods employee movements to try and predict stores & #39;at risk& #39; of unionising. https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-tracks-unionization-risk-with-heat-map-2020-1">https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foo...
13/n At the same time, Amazon won& #39;t even count and report the data on how many warehouse workers tested positive for COVID because the data & #39;makes no difference and makes employees fearful& #39;.
Different kinds of data for different kinds of bodies. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/technology/amazon-coronavirus-workers.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/1...
Different kinds of data for different kinds of bodies. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/technology/amazon-coronavirus-workers.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/1...
14/n I get into these forms of control creep & more in Technologies of Speculation: The limits of knowledge in a data-driven society, out this month!
If you order on the NYU Press website, use code HONG30 for 30% off. https://nyupress.org/9781479883066/technologies-of-speculation/">https://nyupress.org/978147988...
If you order on the NYU Press website, use code HONG30 for 30% off. https://nyupress.org/9781479883066/technologies-of-speculation/">https://nyupress.org/978147988...
