Privacy policies function as surveillance policies in practice

Evidence

Finally, the research team unearthed an even darker secret: privacy policies do not matter. Of the 211 apps in the group, 81 percent did not have privacy policies, but for those that did, “not all of the provisions actually protected privacy.” Of those apps without privacy policies, 76 percent shared sensitive information with third parties, and of those with privacy policies, 79 percent shared data while only about half admitted doing so in their published disclosures. In other words, privacy policies are more aptly referred to as surveillance policies, and that is what I suggest we call them. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 782

Categorization

• DEFINE: Zuboff coins a redefinition: what users call ‘privacy policies’ should be called ‘surveillance policies’ given how they actually function.
• SEED: Angle for an essay: the near-zero regulatory valence of privacy policies as institutionalized disclosure theater — the paper that users sign away on.
• XREF: connects to: Privacy matters beyond secrecy because surveillance of legal acts chills free expression — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 619; Privacy protections are structurally incompatible with surveillance capitalism’s accumulation logic — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 601; Privacy is not eroded but redistributed to surveillance capital — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 284 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Privacy protections are structurally incompatible with surveillance capitalism’s accumulation logic #corroborates (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 601
• Privacy is not eroded but redistributed to surveillance capital #corroborates (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 284
• Surveillance capitalists self-authorize the right to modify user behavior for profit #corroborates (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 933
• Privacy controversies have not slowed the global expansion of surveillance-capitalist services #corroborates (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 469
• Automated data environments override mutual expectations and unsettle liberal privacy #corroborates (0.75) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 560