The Dangers of Corporate Espionage

            The prospect of internet privacy is impossible in this day and age. The government of the United States uses data assemblies to spy on persons of interest in the name of national security. The government receives this data from various sources, many of them from companies who take personal information from individuals for their own profit. While the idea of being spied on by corporations and agencies may be disconcerting, the fact is that it is popular in modern culture to share one’s life and movements with the world via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other websites. Not only are one’s actions secretly tracked, but it is considered fun to do so oneself. The issue is that while the government is held accountable for their actions by the people, corporations are gathering this information purely for profit, which can be detrimental to the individual.

            Google is known for being one of the more nefarious gatherers of information their clients. Nathan Newman on the Huffington Post explains how Google sells gathered data illegally and sold the information to other companies. The information was used by advertisers to target their products directly as specific consumers, while this may not appear harmful, Newman explains that these advertisements can target those in lower economic classes and help impoverish them with scaled prices. Google also played a role in the housing crisis of 2008 by allowing advertisements of deceptively low mortgages that, while not the primary cause of the housing boom, was only exacerbating the problem for profit. When left to their own devices, companies will exploit the consumer to obtain more money. Labor unions at the turn of the century helped to create legislation to curb the exploitation of the worker, while banks in 1929 and almost in 2008 caused the crash of the free market in the name of profit. Corporations are more dangerous to the general population than the government.

            As Newman states, the NSA uses the data to track down threats to national security and while this does involve the invasion of the privacy of innocent people, they are not harmed in any way. Companies targeting advertising can influence one to make poor financial choices. This is of course, a choice and it is one’s own responsibility to make proper use of one’s assets. Thus, not all blame can be placed upon Google, companies or the government. While most do not go to the extreme that Hasan Elahi goes, the vast majority of individuals while internet access willingly share their lives with strangers. This is not a bad thing; it is merely a change in how society views privacy. Elahi shares his life to make an artistic statement; everyone else does it for fun and to fulfill their sociological need for interaction with other people. Companies must be held accountable in some way for their use of the data they have. But the act of gathering this information should not be held too critically, the populous cares little for their own privacy.