Countering “Surveillance Capitalism.” The Intertwining of Objective and Subjective Factors

Abstract

AbstractWhy do users generally pay little attention to the serious threats to their privacy inherent in new communication technologies? In attempting to answer this question, I consider two different and complementary approaches to the issue of surveillance: the now classic view of Bauman and the more recent, but already well-known, view of Zuboff. I show how Bauman focuses mainly on subjective factors, represented by the psychic motivations of the user, and assigns little importance to technology, whereas technology as an objective factor plays a fundamental role in Zuboff’s analysis of surveillance capitalism.Hence, I propose to broaden the theoretical framework in order to better capture the intertwining of subjective and objective factors, particularly by taking into account studies on the new philanthropy. On closer inspection, the fact that the new economy tycoons are also often committed to ostentatiously doing good for the less fortunate could explain users’ overconfidence. Since ordinary people see the alleged generosity of the owners of Microsoft, Amazon, or Facebook widely publicized, it is reasonable for them to assume that these “modern-day heroes” are offering their services free of charge to all and sundry for the common good.