Wrapped and all the wrongs?
The #SpotifyWrapped2021 had me hooked. It was a great way to take us on a nostalgic ride of the year. Yet, it raised in me a question, “if they know so much about me, how much data are these guys mining?”
When you take a step back and look at the landscape from above, you see a pattern, and it is scary. It isn’t just Spotify; all the apps we use, Swiggy, Zomato, Fitbit, our phones, ola, cred, and more, are tracking our data in real-time.
What’s scarier? We are entirely oblivious to the magnitude of real-time data mining. Moreover, we have technology that we can converse with, interact with, and share our personal information with, which makes the paradigm of technology taking over humanity more likely than before. And our ignorance was bound to be prevalent. How many of us read the seemingly endless terms and conditions document? Even if a few of us end up reading, non-lawyers seldom understand the jargon, so why bother, right?
Now, imagine this scenario. Given all our data, an organised coup by the top 1% technocrats of the world can erase our information from existence and leave us with nothing shifting the power dynamics entirely. It makes me wonder where we draw the line: how do we regulate this, and what aspects of our lives do we share? If ad platforms cannot track user data and serve targeted ads, how is this different from that use case?
I believe the answer lies in decentralisation. Decentralisation is taking the crypto world by storm. Today, decentralised cryptocurrencies, insurances, exchanges, aggregators and more are available and powered by blockchain technology. I firmly believe we will see such a change in the technology space too, where the community at large will define guiding principles pertinent to privacy, usage, data mining, etc. Given the naturally risk-averse nature of decentralisation, there will be more accountability, transparency and at the same time, increased privacy!
Here’s hoping.