Consumer Surveillance Enters Its Bargaining Phase
The best measure of whether a company cares about privacy is what it does by default. Many apps and products are initially set up to be public: Instagram accounts are open to everyone until you lock them, and the whole world can see whom you split utilities with until you make your Venmo private. Even when companies announce convenient shortcuts for enhancing security, their products can never become truly private. Strangers may not be able to see your selfies, but you have no way to untether yourself from the larger ad-targeting ecosystem.
That lack of definitive privacy has come to the fore over by saying, “Alexa, delete what I said today.” Google in early May that Google Maps will eventually feature an “incognito mode” that turns off tracking. While it’s enabled, users’ location won’t be added to their profile or used to inform ad data. (Google declined to comment for this article; Amazon confirmed the details of its history-clearing feature but did not elaborate further.)
