Newspapers are dying out. Perhaps a good thing, if you counted the number of trees saved. Perhaps, not, it you counted how many jobs are evaporating by the scores and by the thousands. Add to this the number of sub-par blogger-cum-journalists sprouting out of every bedroom, and you get to understand the dark side of the internet.

But it’s not just the jobs. It is possible to learn and relearn a new skill as robots takes over the more mundane jobs that dot an automobile factory floor. When policy keeps pace with technology’s galloping strides, it’s possible to formulate retraining modules to keep the populace at pace with reality. This not only limits the negative effects that come with adopting new breakthroughs, but ensures human hands are put to more productive uses that enrich the human being and also build the economy.

It’s not the jobs per se. It’s the other costs: the loss of touch with humanity that arises out of an over-reliance on tech and social media to keep us connected; the security threats that come about because every single information about every single person is only a password away from a keen, unscrupulous person on the dark side of the web; it’s the massive scale at which groups and nationalities can become stigmatized because of love scams on dating apps; the ease with which a sustained social media enterprise could possibly lead to the undermining of the world’s greatest democracy. And, now, there is talk of digital currency now seen as a potential threat to monetary sovereignty of entire nations. Most importantly, there is the phenomenon of powerful, seemingly ungovernable tech giants that are consolidating power one code at a time.

The Ugly Secret

Analytica has become the poster child of everything that is wrong with technology in general, and social media in particular. The UK-based political research organisation used unauthorized means to siphon data of 50 million Facebook users, and then used said data to build a powerful behaviour predicting software that influenced voting patterns in the US and elsewhere. In an interview shared on Guardian, a whistlebower said “We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.”

Data breaches are nothing new in the tech space since data collection is at the heart of all tech companies. The more you gather, the better you are able to provide relevant services to your audience. Usually, you would be required by law to seek consent from users. Tech giants go around this with bulky privacy policies and terms of use which sometimes hide the salient details of what they are taking and what they are using said information for. In the case of Cambridge Analytica, their nefarious activities were detected by Facebook as far back as 2015. Rather than take adequate measures to halt the practice, Facebook is believed to have used only minimal effort to draw the attention of users.

It’s not just Facebook that has shown gross disregard towards its users. The recent allegations against Google, for example, shows a problem probably endemic in the tech space. The allegation was made by rival search engine, Brave, and it paints a picture of how Google used secret web pages to illegally collect personal user data which it then shared with its ad partners, according to a report. How did it work?

Johnny Ryan, Chief Policy Analyst at Brave, used Google’s Chrome browser without any login or cookies history on his device. In effect, he was a new user and the chrome browser should not have any record of his internet use. However, he recognised specific web pages that had unique hidden addresses. These were markers that identified him as a user. Over the course of an hour, Ryan said the identifiers were used 278 times. Ideally, Google is required to seek permission before collecting such information from users.

“If you’re reading an article about erectile dysfunction, depression or self-harm, chances are high that this will be broadcast to thousands of companies,” Ms Kaltheuner of Privacy International said about how invasive targeted ads have become.

The Evidence?

Powerful recording cameras have helped journalists make daring escapades behind the lines of corrupt political elements. In Ghana, activists like Anas and Manasseh have used video evidence to bring light to some of the more corrupt elements of Ghanaian leadership. Unfortunately, the future of such evidence in court could be short-lived because of a modern image synthesizing technology called deepfake.

Deepfake is a technology that makes it easy to create image synthesis inside videos. It allows you to superimpose a face onto a video including another person. It could appear so seamless and so real that few would be able to tell that another person has been artificially inserted into the video. What purpose would this serve? Well, political points, for starters, like it happened to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Or, it could be a dangerous tool in the world of revenge porn where ex-lovers create fake videos of their exes and circulate them on the world wide web. Deepfake results are so realistic few would believe what they are watching is actually fake.

The Balance

Technological breakthroughs are meant to ease our lives. They are meant to provide solutions to age-old problems. It is now easier than before to accurately predict weather conditions and also boost produce on our farms. Breast cancer can be easily detected and treated early thanks to the efforts of scientist and the beautiful brain of this Ghanaian inventor called Mustapha Diyaol Haqq.

When the Hyperloop and the Maglev train become mainstream, countries and cities would become even more connected, cutting down travel journeys and boosting productivity globally. And what about the advent of fifth generation connectivity that is breaking the boundaries of communications? The profits we reap as people from the technological breakthroughs are astounding. Think about how you are reading this on a smartphone or a small computer only a few decades after 5 MB weighed all of a ton.

Firm Regulation

The negative externalities that come with the illegal use of tech by unscrupulous cybercriminals can only be solved through active government regulation of the invention process. Formulating laws that govern the use of tech is just one step in that direction. The other, more important step, is to offer stiffer punishments to abusers of tech. This applies not just to human elements caught using phishing tools to steal customer data, but to tech firms whose negligence and profiteering lead to the exposure of user data.

For their sins and inactions during Cambridge Analytica’s criminal behaviour, Facebook has been fined $5 billion. Facebook barely felt a pinch of the Federal Trade Commission’s ruling as it recorded 2019 second quarter earnings alone was almost $17bn. Perhaps, the more encouraging parts of the settlement involve a resolution to “change Facebook’s entire privacy culture to decrease the likelihood of continued violations,” according to reports.

Meanwhile, Google is facing its own headwinds from European regulators. Accused of using its dominant position to restrict third-party search results, the EU fined the Alphabet-owned company €1.5bn. This follows a €4.3bn fine over its misuse of android to “cement its dominant position”.

Good Signs of Proactive Measures

Luckily, things seem to be changing as regulators are looking to curb potential problems early on. When Amazon opened applications for its HQ2 location, Long Island was among the early bidders. Eventually, though, Amazon’s plans were rejected by a combination of politicians and activists. The attendant problems that came with situating a large HQ, ala traffic conditions, rent hikes, etc., appeared too much for the city to handle. Add to that all the tax concessions the deal required for an already huge firm like Amazon, and it seems Greater New York made a better deal overall.

A new digital sales tax in France is aimed at claiming part of the revenues earned by tech giants in France. At 3%, the Digital Sales Tax is targeted at tech firms that make €750 million globally of which at least $25 million is earned in the Mediterranean country. Macron’s France is not done, though.

Facebook announced plans to introduce its own digital currency midway through 2019. Libra, the currency would be called, has stakeholders including other Libra associates like Uber, Visa, and Andreessen Horowitz. The possibility of billions of people investing in a digital currency that cannot be regulated by national monetary policy has caused a stir among world leaders, and France has been vociferous in its rejection of the plan.

Le Maire, France’s Finance Minister, has said Facebook’s plan risks undermining the sovereignty of entire nations. For a company with Facebook’s history it’s important that regulators understand the implications of such initiatives before they are implemented.

Another positive attempt at limiting the influence of the opaque processes on tech platforms is Australia’s decision to establish a special office to regulate the tech giants. Facebook and Google have all relied on complex algorithms to protect customer data and match advertiser needs with customer online activity. The reality and the number of fines they have been faced with suggests there is more to be done to ensure user safety. While these regulations should not be prohibitive enough to kill innovation, they must be punitive enough to encourage responsibility on the part of these tech giants.

The Gig Economy

In California, the new Assembly Bill 5 promises to give workers of app-based companies the some protection as employees. For years, ride-hailing companies, dog-walking services, and repair businesses have treated their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The distinction allows the companies to avoid certain obligations that normal employees get from their employers. Lawsuits have been filed in the united States challenging this distinction, and the end result is the Assembly Bill 5.

The bill is an adventure in common sense: if a worker is integral to the way your business operates, then that person is an employee and must be treated as one. This bill has the potential of changing the lives of about a million people in California. What would be phenomenal if more states and nations adopt similar rules to offer contract workers integral to the tech companies’ business model some protection.

Conclusion

The great costs of technology exist not in our use of said innovations, but in tech giants who seem to have grown out of control. With so much information and immense power, tech giants need to be restrained in how they handle user data. More importantly, regulators need to be strong in condemning illicit activities. Technology is only beneficial if it doesn’t breed powerful monopolies that cannot be controlled.