If you give a mouse a cookie…it will ask for a glass of milk.
Every time we hit Accept or Decline, we make a choice; whether we understand the repercussions or not. Many do not understand what cookies are, while those who do, may not have the time to consider how far reaching their decision may be. Those who do, may often feel resigned at needing to find and click that Decline button every-single-time; a button that is so often hidden behind walls of texts, accompanied by discolored and non-discernible options meant to confuse the user. And once all is said and done, do we feel that our information and privacy is truly untouched?
While the EU has made steps in the right direction with its GDPR regulations, NGOs , public agencies, and academic researchers continue to warn that in a variety of circumstances, our privacy is threatened. The concerns raised fall into many categories, from the social, discussing our human relationship to data and information, discrimination, misinformation, social justice, and inequality; to the political, dealing with group and individual rights, sovereignty, democratic backsliding, and power abuse by mega-corporations and governments.
I aim to discuss the social and political ramifications of our datafication in the EU, in the hopes of illuminating issues of data justice, social justice, and political justice. Are groups discriminated against by the employment of datafied information? Do politicians care that our data is not private, much less theirs? Can we individually do anything different or make daily choices which protect our information? As a warrior anonymouse, I hope to uncover some truths, and hopefully lead you, dear reader, into asking more questions.
If you give a mouse a cookie…mega-corporations will obtain and resell your data at a profit, infringing on your civic rights to privacy and personal data.
