virtually every free app you have on your phone is spying on you
it’s no secret that for the social networks, collecting, analysing and then selling your personal data to inundate you with targeted advertising based on your behaviour, is their main source of revenue and although those platforms are free, they do come at a cost
the fact is, we are paying to use these services, not with money, but with our attention. with every scroll, tap and swipe, we give away thousands of data points, which the platforms stitch together to create sophisticated models that enable brands to target users with unprecedented accuracy. we’re paying with our personal data and we’re paying with our privacy
we leave a trail of footprints with every tap/click online. everything you post, like, share, watch and read is analysed. even your location can be tracked in real time. Facebook comments and profiles are searchable on Google and photos uploaded there have facial recognition software applied automatically. some apps can even control your phone’s microphone and camera
that highly valuable information is then bought and sold by various businesses, corporations, health and financial companies, even governments, so that they can manipulate us to buy their stuff or vote in a certain way. there are serious, ethical concerns with the increasing surveillance capitalism, persuasive technology and the big tech companies who use algorithmic management to harvest and essentially sell their users’ personalities. so who really benefits when we trade in our personal data and information, for convenience and connectivity with others ?
it’s been said that “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product”. although we are the product, Big Tech does not care about us, it’s our data they want. our data is the main product. that’s why we think the modest subscription to rewind is a small price to pay in order to keep your memories and content safe, secure and most importantly, private. our promise is that we’ll never sell or share your data, analyse your profile, or hit you with adverts. it’s your content, your data, so you should own it !
read our privacy policy in full
this is encouraging :The Age of Social Media Is Ending, by Ian Bogost