Secrecy and illegibility are deliberate design features, not incidental side effects

Evidence

Surveillance capitalists dominate an abnormal division of learning in which they know things that we cannot know while compelled to conceal their intentions and practices in secret backstage action. It is impossible to understand something that has been crafted in secrecy and designed as fundamentally illegible. These systems are intended to ensnare us, preying on our vulnerabilities bred by an asymmetrical division of learning and amplified by our scarcity of time, resources, and support. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1091

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the abnormal division of learning as a structural asymmetry in which the surveilling firm knows what the surveilled cannot.
• XREF: connects to: Omerta secrecy is a protection-market function, not an inert cultural code; Repeated corporate privacy violations indicate an intentional design rather than oversight — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 153; Invulnerability in strategic argument is often proxied by undetectability — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 837 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Omerta secrecy is a protection-market function, not an inert cultural code #expands (0.85)
• Targeted influence structurally requires that its targets remain unaware #exemplifies (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 963
• Repeated corporate privacy violations indicate an intentional design rather than oversight #exemplifies (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 153
• Even imperfect invisibility can sustain the illusion of constant surveillance #expands (0.78) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 303
• Invulnerability in strategic argument is often proxied by undetectability #corroborates (0.75) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 837
• Obscure symbolic threats minimize exposure while maximizing terror #expands (0.72)
• Seeking invisibility differs fundamentally from having insignificance imposed #contradicts (0.70)