Age of Data Harvesting

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Is it just me or am I being constantly asked to give my mobile number, scan a QR code, put my email, put my credit card online, asked to download an app, show and in some cases leave my ID card (and having it scanned with no idea how it will be used), having to download cookies, etc, across the world?

Sometimes I have a choice - do not use the service or discount and sometimes I have no choice if I want to use the service. This "no choice" is happening because of upgrades, new terms and conditions or maybe new contexts.

While so much of this is trust based - I fear a lot is also based on ignorance as I do not know when I can say no. 

Is this what the age of data harvesting is like?

📌 Who is harvesting? This should be clear. 

📌 Why are they harvesting? This should be clear.

📌 Is the harvester sharing the information? This should be clear and sadly this is often.

🚫 To which entities are they sharing and why (no general clauses - specific ones)

📌 Do I have a choice? This should be clear and WHY.

What are the boundaries of responsible sharing? Can you take sensitive health data I share in confidence with my doctor (not the nurse, the administrator or anyone else), and then share it with an insurance company that can decide my insurance premiums and then the pharmacy? How about this - can you share it with an employer, under what circumstances? How about with another family member? What about a startup that wants to revolutionize healthcare using my data? I can repeat type of thinking across work, education, travel, shopping etc.

We need more discussions on this topic and I would like to highlight, it is not only children that are vulnerable. It is anyone that cannot afford the millions of dollars to scrub the internet of their private and personal data, or have a "private island retreat" where there is no surveillance, or have an army of technologists to help us.... this is sadly, a vast majority of us. With increasing deepfakes it is not longer about what is true or factual - it is about who controls the net and how much of the net controls us. 

While some countries have the right to be forgotten, some have the right to have records sealed....what are our rights with the internet archives of our data? When I die, I do not want a bot pretending to be me. But do I have that right?