Facebook is free to use (and always will be, they tell us). Google is free to use and so is Twitter. Yet, somehow, these tech companies are amongst the wealthiest plutocracies in human history. How do they make so much money, if they’re free?
Because they’re not.
We live in the Information Age. This is no more a fancy slogan than “Industrial Revolution”: it’s a hard fact. Information is now an extremely valuable commodity. In fact, The Economist recently declared that “The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data”. And that’s where Facebook, Google and Twitter are making their staggering fortunes: information. Your information.
And you’re giving it to them for nothing but funny pictures of cats and the ability to argue with complete strangers, anywhere in the world. Is this a fair trade? According to at least one tech company, not by a long shot.
Google should compensate all internet users $1000 to compensate them for breaches of their privacy through the sale of their personal data to advertisers, says Oracle.
Oracle is also a multinational tech company, specialising in database software and cloud systems. They know as well as anyone what information is worth. They’ve also shown a marked head-kicking proclivity when it comes to going after their competitors. During the early 2000s Microsoft anti-trust case, Oracle attracted notoriety for hiring investigators to dumpster dive through Microsoft’s garbage. Oracle has also previously sued Google for copyright infringement.
They have a history, you might say.
For all Jacinda Ardern’s posturing “Christchurch call”, for the moment it looks as if Australia is where the legal future of social media companies is being influenced. A NSW case may establish a precedent that Facebook users are liable for defamatory comments made on their page or wall, even if they were unaware of the comments. At the same time, at the behest of then-Treasurer Scott Morrison, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is conducting an inquiry into digital platforms. The inquiry has recommended forcing social media companies to better protect users’ privacy.
In a submission to the Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk, Oracle has pushed for an inquiry into Google over alleged privacy breaches.
The submission comes on the eve of the government’s release of the ACCC report into digital platforms.
Well, the report is out, and it has recommended that Australia’s Privacy Act be strengthened and a code of conduct imposed on tech giants. At the same time, the US Federal Trade Commission has just fined Facebook five billion US dollars for breaching its users’ privacy.
Google aggregates all data collected from use of its Android phones, browsers, YouTube and other services and then sells these in real time auctions to the highest bidder, according to Oracle…Google is effectively making money from you each time you tap into one of its many services, the company said.
It has been under attack in other jurisdictions for privacy breaches but not in Australia.
You’ve probably noticed how, if you happen to mention something, anything, on a Facebook post or comment, suddenly your Facebook feed is crammed with ads for it. If you use a Google service such as Google Home, you only have to mention it out loud in the privacy of your own home. These companies are selling your personal data to advertisers.
In its submission, Oracle said Google aggregates and monetises personal information.
Its pitch to advertisers is its service provides demographic targeting detailing age, range, gender, political and other club membership and household income.
Google says it is selling advertising opportunities not personal information.
theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/google-owes-internet-users-1000-each-over-privacy-breaches-oracle/news-story/
Which is rather like the old Punter to Punter catchphrase: “We’re not encouraging you to gamble, we’re encouraging you to bet!”