Issue 119: The Privacy War is Over
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about digital well-being.– Mary Ames, Director of Strategy
THE BIG TAKE
The Privacy War is Over
Every day we generate thousands of pieces of data. Most of this data creation takes place on our smartphones. Technology companies collect and analyze everything from our searches to the exact locations of our phones at any given second. This data hovering enables tech companies to deliver incredible services and is instrumental in building the next generation of artificial intelligence models, but there is a darker side.
We need a change. Shoshana Zuboff, a professor emerita at Harvard Business School and the author of the widely acclaimed book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, has been sounding the alarm bells about data privacy for decades. For Zuboff, the major tech companies have grown too strong, and efforts by many countries don’t have enough bite to restore balance to how our data is collected and used. Tech surveillance through data collection matters, Zuboff told the Financial Times, because it robs us of “life-sustaining inwardness.” Individuals worldwide can’t realistically opt out by themselves anymore. What we need is a right to sanctuary.
Finding refuge. Just because Zuboff says that countries have lost their power to regulate significant tech companies doesn’t mean they should stop trying. But the fact is that we need to start taking our data collection more seriously. This also means thinking consciously about our use of smartphones and computers. We have long advocated for a healthier digitalwell-being approach that includes more time in the analog world. Not only would we have healthier lives, but such a disconnect could help push forward the conversation about data privacy that Zuboff has been driving. This is one of the significant challenges of our time.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Technology makes the world a new place."
– Shoshana Zuboff, author.
CHART OF THE WEEK
We are looking at the tech economy this week. This chart from The Network EC demonstrates how the leading tech companies have hired fast and are now firing quickly.
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
Digital well-being: It's time to get serious about well-being. Let’s face it: the world is still a wild place. The pandemic remains an ever-present threat. The global economy is up and down. Complicating matters is that we have never been more addicted to scrolling on our phones. Getting off one’s phone is much easier said than done, but even thirty minutes daily can make a big difference in one’s mental health. This is especially true if that screen time break happens before bed. We explore more tips and tricks in this piece published by Xische about digital health.
Big bespoke data: In this piece from the Xische archive, we reflected on the use of data collection in our lives. While there are certainly challenges regarding data (we’re looking at you, Facebook), there's nothing to fear about data collection. Data is helping us find better products, get healthy, and lead more fulfilling lives.
SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
Food fads. A couple of years ago, plant-based burgers took over the world. These weren’t the Garden Burgers of two decades ago but burgers that tasted like meat but were made of plants. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods led the charge with these more eco-friendly alternatives, and, for a time, they were poised to upend the world’s $1 trillion meat industry. Then they flopped. Bloomberg has the wild narrative of this fascinating food fad.
What Lego can teach us about the world. Modular projects like Lego might hold the keys to some of the world’s largest energy projects. The undercover economist Tim Harford reviews a new book by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner that suggest good old legos hold the keys to successful megaprojects. If you have ever had an interest in Lego or megaprojects, this is a book to check out.