What Happens When Mark Records Everything?

Mark is a profiling expert. You and he agreed that he is to record every single thing you do. This agreement began when you clicked ‘I agree to the terms of service,’ remember? Now, Mark is really good at his job. He’ll be everywhere. On the device in your pocket, the machine on your desk and the display of your car.

Mark works for companies and occasionally for governments. They are ravenous for this information he collects. “To provide you with the best service”, they say.

Mark’s employers are keen on creating a complete picture of you. The more they know, the better they can sell ads you are likely to click on. They can also ‘personalize’ that AI model for you. Or, worse, they can make decisions on your behalf.

It’s easy to make a persona of you, because Mark records EVERYTHING. That you visit certain websites and interact with specific people. Searched for these keywords and purchased certain items in this specific store. You joined these particular groups and follow these channels. And you left comments on this particular newspaper.

The picture of you becomes clearer with each new piece of information. It will include all kinds of details: Your age, gender, and what ethnicity you are. The social circles you find yourself in. Who your parents are and how many children you have. Where you live and where you workout. Your sexuality and fetishes. Whether it is Yahweh, Allah or just God to you. If you called in sick today and that infection on your big toe.

Often you take the guess work out of their hands by answering their questions directly.“I’m in a relationship with … ” and “Here’s where I work since 2016.” Other times, they have to make assumptions based on the millions of other profiles. They’ll guess your intelligence and assign you a political stance. They register the sentiment of your ‘private’ messages. They record your values and ideology. Your dreams and aspirations.

“Well”, you say, “I am an upstanding citizen.” “I am not doing anything wrong. I have nothing to hide”. How are you so sure that all information Mark has collected is secure? Do you completely trust–without a doubt–the company and the companies they do business with? Can you trust the competence and the care of the employees? What if what they know falls into the wrong hands? (Are we even sure who ‘the wrong hands’ are?)

Imagine if everything about you became publicly available. For your family to download. For your government to access and your (future) employer to purchase. For an organisation to train decision-making AI models on. For terrorist groups to target.

Consider the possibility that your actions become punishable by law. Do you trust today’s and tomorrow’s elected leaders? Do you trust them not to blacklist you because you searched “VPN services”? Prevent you from getting a job or buying a house. Deny you from having a choice just because you make polite conversation with that semi-Nazi uncle of yours?

Do you truly have nothing to hide from ANYONE? Nothing that could be used to scam or blackmail you? Nothing that could force you to act against your beliefs?

You are wrong to think this is not applicable to you. More incompetent people build insecure apps. Personal data breaches are rising at an alarming rate. Copying someone’s likeness is done with a click of a button. Surveillance legislations are being pushed under the excuse of public safety. Political division is so extreme now that simply believing differently can put you at risk.

Realise that Mark’s employers are worldwide. Some are from the Americas, while others are from Asia. Africa and Europe really want in on the action too. “For the security of our citizens”, they claim.

Well, privacy transcends politics and laws. It doesn’t matter what you believe. Regardless of whether you lean extreme left, center-right, or don’t give a shit. Whether you believe that people should ‘go back to their own country’ or that cultural fusion is the way forward.

Privacy is personal. It is the awareness that the more you give up, the better malicious actors can target you. Regardless that actor is your government or a terrorist group. Or when your government are the terrorists.

Think twice about what information you share with who. Who you trust. Whether it’s the company hired by your doctor to hold your medical records or the new app everybody uses.

How can you protect your freedom if you don’t protect your privacy?

Want to start taking back a bit of control? Go to your email and search: ‘account’, ‘verify your email’ or ‘welcome’. Ask those companies to delete your personal data. The law often supports your right to privacy—at least for now.