week 4 Flashcards
6 features of big data
- Tracking is ‘populational’ rather than targeted: Instead of focusing on one individual, big data tracks entire populations, collecting info from everyone.
- Correlation and predictability: Big data uses patterns to predict outcomes, often categorizing people based on their data, like predicting who might be “risky” based on behavior.
- Monitoring is pre-emptive: Big data isn’t just about monitoring what happens; it tries to predict and prevent things from happening in the future.
- Tracking is interventionist: Data collection isn’t passive; it influences actions, like recommending things on apps or websites based on what you’ve done before.
- All information is relevant: Every tiny piece of data counts, and it’s used to personalize ads and content to get the best results, like making you more likely to buy something.
- Transparency is compromised: We often don’t see the full picture of how our data is collected or used, and companies may keep the details hidden.
what is big data?
Big data refers to extremely large and complex sets of data that are analyzed to uncover patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions.
how does big other and surveillant assemblage differ?
Big Other: This concept focuses on a massive, invisible network that controls and monitors everything. It’s a system made up of tech, companies, and governments that track your every move—online or offline. The goal is to shape and predict your behavior, often for profit. It’s less about individual surveillance and more about a huge, all-encompassing system that affects everyone.
Surveillant Assemblage: This idea is more about the combination of different technologies, systems, and practices that come together to create a complex web of surveillance. It’s not just one entity in control, but a collection of things (like cameras, social media, data mining) that work together to track people. The “assemblage” is always shifting and changing depending on what technologies and methods are used.
In simple terms:
Big Other is like a giant, invisible overseer controlling surveillance across society.
Surveillant Assemblage is about how different tools and systems work together in a more flexible way to monitor people.
how do companies concentrate privacy rights?
fully informing users, similar to how Google’s Street View gathered images of streets and homes without asking.
Exploiting the system – These companies take advantage of how fast technology evolves compared to how slowly people understand it and how long it takes for laws to catch up.
Q: What is dataveillance?
A: The process of collecting and analyzing data to profile and judge people.
Q: How has big data changed surveillance?
suspects.
A: Instead of starting with a suspect, generalized surveillance collects data and then generates
Q: What is surveillance capitalism?
A: A system where companies monetize personal data by extracting, analyzing, and selling behavioral insights.
Q: What is the main goal of predictive surveillance?
A: To model and modify future outcomes rather than just observe behavior.
Q: What is the political economy of surveillance?
A: The study of how economic systems and policies enable data collection and surveillance practices.
Q: What is the “digital enclosure”?
A: The transformation of online spaces into privatized, data-extracting platforms where user activity generates profit.
Q: How does surveillance capitalism differ from industrial capitalism?
A: Instead of profiting from labor, it profits from data extraction and behavioral modification.
Q: What is the attention economy?
A: A business model where user engagement and time spent on platforms are commodified for profit.
