ABSTRACT
While the term ‘surveillance capitalism’, and much of its glossary, were only recently conceived, the reality of data exploitation and the commodification of human information are meta-problems as old as the internet. They raise very critical questions around the interaction between law, socioeconomics, technology, and society, which, where they are to be properly answered, demand a reexamination of entrenched thought patterns on each end of the conversation. This paper attempts to do this and addresses the phenomenon of surveillance capitalism – defined as the aggressive commodification of human data aggregated through mass surveillance of human behaviour (mostly through the internet) for profit-making – from the perspective of law and human rights. The paper commences by examining existing ideas around surveillance capitalism and its intricacies, to properly situate the intended analysis within the context of existing literature on the subject. The paper then examines the chief human rights concerns around surveillance capitalism and the extent to which the problem of surveillance capitalism is a problem of law, particularly as relates to the interaction between the right to privacy vis a vis commercialized surveillance and the privilege of autonomy vis a vis behavioural modification. The paper argues, ultimately, that while surveillance capitalism is a problematic phenomenon possible due to the data accumulation of the internet and occurring as an offshoot of broader post-industrial perversions of capitalism, some aspects of the phenomenon, even in its current form, provide enough utility to the data economy and to modern society to sustain a value case for its existence. The paper argues further that the key problems raised by surveillance capitalism can be resolved by reference to law and regulation, through a remodification of the design of laws and regulations which cater to practices that constitute surveillance capitalism. The proposed remodification would strike a much-needed balance between the need to preserve the benefits of surveillance and the need to save society from the worst of indiscriminate commercial surveillance and data commodification.
Okonkwo, Vincent, Between Privacy, Autonomy and Surveillance Capitalism: Exploring a Trade-Off of Priorities (October 24, 2021).
First posted 2022-01-29 08:00:24
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