After giving considerable thought to how the internet and the web has discovered ways to obtain and keep our undivided attention, then subsequently reaching a level of awakening, that most of us around the world are going to be in deep trouble, if we do not initiate some type of regulation and control in the very near future.
Hearing people say “big brother is watching”, used to be reserved for conspiracy theorist, so I thought, before I understood what the internet really was. Being a global network connecting millions of people, institutions, and computers, that have our most personal information, of which the United States shares to more than one hundred countries, makes me think of the movie I,Robot, in 2004, where AI takes over because it thinks it knows what is best for society, has me wondering if this really can happen.
Privatization of the internet in the1990s released these companies from government oversight and our inherited civil instincts were suspended, according to an article written by Franklin Foer, published in The Atlantic, in 2018. The Government has rules and regulations protecting us from banks capitalizing on our ignorance, exploiting us in the financial world, as well as regulations keeping manufacturers transparent about harmful ingredients they put in our food, transportation regulations for seat belts and speed limits, to save our lives, and laws regarding pornography, but there is absolutely no regulation for the content published on the internet directed at young children or adolescents.
Since there is so much money involved, it would be interesting to see if data protection rules would ever be generated in the United States, being such a capitalistic country, at this point in time. The European Union (EU) has data protection rules that guarantee how personal data can be collected (europa.eu). One can withdraw permission or consent at any time, in which the companies have to stop using your information immediately. On the webpage there is a clear “yes/no” consent option, and the information has to be presented in a clear understandable way. They also have a section called “right to be forgotten” which gives you the prerogative to have all your personal data erased from all websites. Also, to use online services, social media, download music or games, parental consent must be attained for children under the age of 16, although some countries in the EU, it is 13 years of age.
Being reminded of a statement Mark Zuckerberg made about twenty years ago, where he called people a “dumb fuck”, to have trusted him with their data, and he also said privacy is no longer a “social norm”, makes me wonder if I will ever see any type of regulation of the internet and web within the next few years.
