Push for breaking up big tech giants
The digital world is everywhere and the concept of privacy is gone. Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, etc have shaped our world. The second you click on something online, you pay your bills from your smartphone, you want the convenience of a Ring system and Echo, your privacy is compromised, you have signed on to a level of surveillance and potential behavioral control. Big tech companies have been collecting, archiving and retrieving surveillance footage and creating a whole library of information about every customer for years.
The value of all of that data is part of why Amazon is the most powerful company, helps its corporate side, and its partnerships with the Department of Defense, with the military industrial complex, with law enforcement, gives it a whole other level of power as well. Over 50% of our taxpayer money goes to the Department of Defense. Personal data can be collected and used for political purposes.
Data is power, it is the new oil in terms of its value. It is dangerous when power is centrally controlled. While the convenience cannot be overlooked, the privacy implications are huge. Big tech companies are shaping not just the commerce, but also work, technology, politics, and national security.
We already know what is happening when a government works with big tech companies and taps into the power of big data and AI. The Chinese government has built software that uses artificial intelligence to sort data collected on residents, known as "one person, one file". The FBI used facial recognition to identify people who got into the capital building on January 6.
US politicians have given big tech so much power in return for campaign cash, and now it is time to ask tough questions and take actions on breaking up Google Apple Facebook Amazon, etc pushing for regulations on how the personal data are shared and stored, under what circumstances should third parties, whether governments or private companies, have access to databases that house such personal information, etc.