Regaining ‘freedom of thought’ from surveillance capitalism ──Special feature ‘THE WORLD IN 2023’ | WIRED.jp
The annual all-out special feature “THE WORLD IN 2023”. Susie Alegre, an internationally active human rights lawyer, believes that the direction of innovation will change from technology that attempts to “monitor” and manipulate users like targeted advertising to technology that “protects freedom.” Say.
In a speech at Stanford University in 2019appleof CEOsTim Cookwarned that technology that peeks into people’s heads and tries to interfere threatens their “freedom to be human.” By his “freedom to be human,” he refers to one of the fundamental human rights, “freedom of thought,” an absolute right that has been largely overlooked.
An important aspect of Cooke’s speech was, “In a situation like this,silicon valleywas not born.”In other words, technology that violates freedom of thoughtInnovationIt undermines and ultimately serves no one.
2023 will be the year when people regain control over their minds and regain the freedom to think for themselves.A design that captures people’s hearts, a micro design based on user preferences and behaviortargetingemotion-recognition technology, predictive policing, and the neuropolitical science of trying to understand social behavior scientifically, most of the new technologies that have emerged in the last decade are the work of Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus Shoshana Zubov wrote the booksurveillance capitalismIt embodies the “future of mankind” that I warned about in 2014. The goal is to determine from a large amount of data what we think, how we feel, and how we act, and ultimately control it. I have to.
However, this situation is reaching a turning point. In 2023, regulations and the direction of technological innovation will begin to visibly change in order to strengthen and protect our freedom of thought as we live in the digital age.
Regulation of targeted advertising
Back in 2016, when the now-defunct political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was using micro-targeting techniques commonly used in online advertising to probe the minds of voters around the world, data is what drives the internet, and users It was unthinkable to ban targeted advertising that “monitors” However, in 2022, the European Union (EU) enacted the Digital Services Act, which prohibits targeted advertising targeting minors.
Even U.S. President Joe Biden, in his 2022 State of the Union address, made it one of his agenda to stop collecting personal data on children.In the United States, the Washington, D.C. Attorney General has accused Cambridge Analytica of using data in the 2016 election.metais the CEO ofMark Zuckerbergis suing. Also in Belgium, the Data Protection Authority (DPA) issued a decision questioning the very mechanism of real-time bidding for online advertising.
In 2023, regulators and legislators around the world will make it clear that targeted advertising-based surveillance capitalist business models are no longer acceptable. Big tech companies are also beginning to look carefully at the impact of their work on freedom of thought and take drastic measures.
Facebook in 2021virtual realityWearables that operate (VR) devicesbrain computer interface(BCI) has been discontinued. Also in 2022,microsoftdetects emotionsArtificial intelligence(AI) announces the phasing out of public availability of tools,GoogleIn response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that granted women the right to abortion, we have taken measures to prevent the risk of exposing individual opinions through misuse of data. did. In addition, Apple has announced a new feature called “Lockdown Mode” to prevent phone hacking of human rights defenders around the world as a countermeasure against spyware “Pegasus”.
