Remember, Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects says, ‘The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that, he’s gone.’ In the same way, the best way to get something you value from someone else is to convince the person who owns it that it has no value. We have seen this reign supreme in the information sector, calling our information “data exhaust” while that same data is mined, repackaged, sold and used to dangle carrots in our face to keep us on a consumer treadmill. Just when it seems this was the extent of our self-endorsed exploitation, the cloven hooves on the doorstep announce yet deeper exploitation of our data and us. No, while the entire idea of capitalism is based on the exploitation of resources, these were considered natural resources- coal, wood, steel, etc. Now with the advent of the new media, a new fertile ground has been found to be exploited. Not just our so-called, data exhaust, which is mined like a precious metal to create a feedback loop to feed us exactly what we expect to see and what it is decided that we need. Not to be content with this level of exploitation, it now seems that when we take a DNA test even that data is being siphoned off to curate our curiosity and life experiences. Deep in the language of the agreement can be buried your tacit approval for your information to be used, shared and exploited in any way. This would allow insurance companies, give you a preferred status due to a perceived “pure” genetic background is pure enough to warrant can drop you because of what is in your genetic background promote you to a preferred status or even convict you of a crime.
Perhaps, while ignorance will not bring bliss but divorce may be our only hope, not in some Luddite revolution but in a conscious choice a conscious digital uncoupling where our privacy and digital dignity is more important than sharing what we had for lunch.
The Mc Luhan Galaxy 