The Surveillance Economy

In a recent lawsuit against Apple, the plaintiffs claimed that Siri was eavesdropping on them and that the recordings were used for targeted advertising. I find this highly unlikely for several reasons:

1. I’m highly skeptical that voice recognition technology that has trouble recognizing the phrase “set a timer for one minute” spoken directly into the microphone can pick up words like “Applebees” or “Air Jordans” from ambient conversation
2. The blowback in case it was discovered that Apple was listening on private conversations without prior consent would be disastrous, not to mention very expensive. This makes it even more unlikely given the fact that…
3. There is an off-the-shelf surveillance alternative that’s extremely cheap and has every kind of information imaginable about the users, even things they would never share, even in private conversations.

Like I said, I don’t think your phone is spying on you, but it sure feels like it sometimes. Here’s how it might play out:

1. You’re hosting a dinner party with a bunch of friends. Since you’re quite close they all have access to your Wi-fi.
2. A guest excuses themselves to go to the restroom, taking the opportunity to get some browsing time. One website presents one of those annoying cookie pop-ups, and the guest clicks “Accept All” to get to the juicy article about top ten weird ways you can use toothpaste (number five will shock you!).
3. Immediately, a tracking cookie is placed on the guests mobile device. Unbeknownst to him, he is now in the crosshairs of a multi-billion surveillance industry that will leave no stone unturned in its data collection effort. Your home IP address is now irrevocably associated with the guest’s browser.
4. On the way home from the party, the guest recalls a conversation about Air Jordans—he starts searching for the best place to get some new kicks, connected to the same advertising network as the listicle he was reading in your bathroom. It adds “Air Jordans” to the meticulously constructed user profile that also contains your home IP address.
5. Meanwhile, back at home, you open up a website connected to the very same advertising network. It sees a familiar IP address, starts rummaging through your profile and finds “Air Jordans”. In a split second you’re served ads for a product you’ve never displayed any interest in other than mentioning it in passing.

It’s not eavesdropping, but it sure is spying! In fact, this is much worse than eavesdropping on conversations, since the advertising networks will gather information about you that you would never dare mention, even in private conversations.

That this is legal, much less tolerated, is quite astounding when you think about it. The EU came to the same conclusion and introduced GDPR, a set of laws that governed exactly what information you can gather and share with third parties. I guess the idea was to make surveillance as a business model less viable. Unfortunately, the only effect this seems to have had is more aggressive cookie pop-ups (which can be seen as a form of malicious compliance), which seem to bother people more than the pervasiveness of online surveillance.