One thing to add to the pile of things to think about: what used to constitute "data" 20 years ago is very different than what we think of as data today. For instance, likes and comments weren't really a thing back then, so it was difficult to anticipate what sort of data might need protecting.
I bet we're in a similar area today, where just about nobody is thinking about protecting certain types of data, and it's going to be used to make gobs of money and cause unintended consequences. Only time will tell what those blind spots are today.
> Accepting payment for our data will undoubtedly require us to sign over our, constitutionally guaranteed, Rights over to these companies. This makes us uninvolved and powerless to stop them from using the data generated for harmful reasons.
Or worse, people will end up being required to pay those who are collecting their data.
For example:
"Smart meters" leak all sorts of data; i.e., By keeping granular track of water and electricity usage, somebody with access to that data can figure out what time you wake up, when you use the toilet, when you take a shower, when you go to work, when you get home, etc.
What happens when these devices become mandated by your H.O.A.? Five years ago, real estate attorney John Cowherd asked
> What lawyers & experts are exploring emerging legal issues in "smart homes?" What happens when the "smart home" industry starts teaming with the community association industry?
> I think that the greatest area for privacy law etc. issues will come from smart condominium complexes, where you could have multi-owner information collection by the same people who are dolling out nonjudicial fines, liens, foreclosures for violation of rules, etc..
> The insecurity of IoT [internet of things] plus the dysfunction of HOA governance - add where HOA’s have “right of entry for inspection” - is a perfect storm for massive invasion of privacy in our homes.
Imagine having a doorbell camera and/or network-connected door lock that does not report to you the homeowner, but is accessible and controlled by your H.O.A. board and manager.
Since H.O.A. documents are enforced as contracts * , the affected homeowner will have effectively surrendered their legal rights.
* Whether they should be enforced as contracts is another matter. My position is obviously "no".
No. They should be required to surrender their personal data to those that can make a productive and profitable use of it.
Just like the Arabs and oil.
> The Arabs have no right to that oil. Oil under the feet of people who don't know what property is, who don't have a civilized society, who are nomads or dictatorships, is not the property of their little king. It is the property of anybody who comes in and produces it. And it was the American and western oil companies that produced that oil. They even went and made contracts with those little petty dictators, even though they morally had no claim to that oil. And the same principle goes to any other natural resources. Natural resources belong to those people who make use of them.
> - Harry Binswanger, The Objectivist Forum and Ayn Rand Institute, 1986
Back in 2016, while I was looking for another job, one employer - the University of Colorado - outsourced their initial interviewing process to a company called HireVue, which conducts interviews remotely over video.
Of course, an applicant had to "agree" to HireVue's terms and conditions, which was 2,673 words long. Particularly offensive was this part:
> 3.2 Ownership of Submitted Content. By posting or publishing, or otherwise enabling the capture and transmission of Submitted Content, you agree that Company and HireVue jointly and severally own all right, title and interest in and to the Submitted Content and may use the Submitted Content at their sole discretion without compensation of any kind to you.
Since the interview was over video, "all content" would include an applicant's voice and appearance.
So if for some reason you ever see me in a porn film -- I don't know why anybody would make or want to see such a thing -- trust me, it was based on content taken from my HireVue interview. And that's not just my crazy conspiracy theory. Even some of the tech podcasts I was listening to at the time raised the alarm about digital porn being created by gathering the likeness of job applicants from this process.
One thing to add to the pile of things to think about: what used to constitute "data" 20 years ago is very different than what we think of as data today. For instance, likes and comments weren't really a thing back then, so it was difficult to anticipate what sort of data might need protecting.
I bet we're in a similar area today, where just about nobody is thinking about protecting certain types of data, and it's going to be used to make gobs of money and cause unintended consequences. Only time will tell what those blind spots are today.
> Surrendering our Legal Rights
> Accepting payment for our data will undoubtedly require us to sign over our, constitutionally guaranteed, Rights over to these companies. This makes us uninvolved and powerless to stop them from using the data generated for harmful reasons.
Or worse, people will end up being required to pay those who are collecting their data.
For example:
"Smart meters" leak all sorts of data; i.e., By keeping granular track of water and electricity usage, somebody with access to that data can figure out what time you wake up, when you use the toilet, when you take a shower, when you go to work, when you get home, etc.
What happens when these devices become mandated by your H.O.A.? Five years ago, real estate attorney John Cowherd asked
> What lawyers & experts are exploring emerging legal issues in "smart homes?" What happens when the "smart home" industry starts teaming with the community association industry?
> I think that the greatest area for privacy law etc. issues will come from smart condominium complexes, where you could have multi-owner information collection by the same people who are dolling out nonjudicial fines, liens, foreclosures for violation of rules, etc..
> The insecurity of IoT [internet of things] plus the dysfunction of HOA governance - add where HOA’s have “right of entry for inspection” - is a perfect storm for massive invasion of privacy in our homes.
Imagine having a doorbell camera and/or network-connected door lock that does not report to you the homeowner, but is accessible and controlled by your H.O.A. board and manager.
Since H.O.A. documents are enforced as contracts * , the affected homeowner will have effectively surrendered their legal rights.
* Whether they should be enforced as contracts is another matter. My position is obviously "no".
> “Data is the new Oil” -Clive Humby
Should People sell their Personal Data?
No. They should be required to surrender their personal data to those that can make a productive and profitable use of it.
Just like the Arabs and oil.
> The Arabs have no right to that oil. Oil under the feet of people who don't know what property is, who don't have a civilized society, who are nomads or dictatorships, is not the property of their little king. It is the property of anybody who comes in and produces it. And it was the American and western oil companies that produced that oil. They even went and made contracts with those little petty dictators, even though they morally had no claim to that oil. And the same principle goes to any other natural resources. Natural resources belong to those people who make use of them.
> - Harry Binswanger, The Objectivist Forum and Ayn Rand Institute, 1986
> https://www.c-span.org/video/?150777-1/socialism-versus-capitalism
> at 1:34:30
Yeah, there are people who actually think this way.
Back in 2016, while I was looking for another job, one employer - the University of Colorado - outsourced their initial interviewing process to a company called HireVue, which conducts interviews remotely over video.
Of course, an applicant had to "agree" to HireVue's terms and conditions, which was 2,673 words long. Particularly offensive was this part:
> 3.2 Ownership of Submitted Content. By posting or publishing, or otherwise enabling the capture and transmission of Submitted Content, you agree that Company and HireVue jointly and severally own all right, title and interest in and to the Submitted Content and may use the Submitted Content at their sole discretion without compensation of any kind to you.
Since the interview was over video, "all content" would include an applicant's voice and appearance.
So if for some reason you ever see me in a porn film -- I don't know why anybody would make or want to see such a thing -- trust me, it was based on content taken from my HireVue interview. And that's not just my crazy conspiracy theory. Even some of the tech podcasts I was listening to at the time raised the alarm about digital porn being created by gathering the likeness of job applicants from this process.