FIGHTING DIGITAL SLAVERY

Ruwandi Perera deliberates on unshackling from digital chains

The UN commemorates International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on 2 December every year. Though this day was born of the need to eradicate the transatlantic slave trade, it is now more about protecting people from modern-day slavery.

Although not explicitly defined, modern slavery entails issues such as forced marriage, forced labour, human trafficking and debt bondage; it refers to people being exploited in situations where they cannot object. Though it isn’t very apparent, digital slavery is yet another form of modern slavery.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote about how it was the best of times and the worst of times; how it was the age of wisdom and the age of foolishness. Isn’t this what we are facing today with the advancement of technology?

Life is easy and convenient. We seem to have access to everything we need with a simple click, tap or swipe. Yet, at what cost – financially, socially, mentally and existentially?

Digital slavery is viewed from many angles. Perhaps the most blatantly obvious is the use of digital and social media in luring unsuspecting victims by networks engaged in sex trafficking and so on.

A somewhat personal form of digital slavery is our constant connectivity to technology, social media and all things cyberspace, thanks to smartphones. One can of course argue that we opt to be connected – and we can switch off our phones, go offline or digitally detox, which would then mean we aren’t slaves to our devices.

But can we do that? Yes. No. Maybe…

We face tidal waves of information every day that require our attention – perhaps a glance, ‘like,’ comment or response. The constant flow of notifications, messages, emails and voice notes, coupled with the urgency culture, makes it difficult to switch off.

This sense of being forced to engage constantly is not only true in the realm of work and organisations but also in our personal lives.

Remember the good old days when we bid farewell to our families and left home in the morning to go to school, university or work and only spoke to them when we returned? And do you remember how we used to last for hours not knowing where our kids were after school?

This detached style of life is almost unthinkable today due to the connectivity we enjoy. Think about the time you missed more than three calls from someone in the span of an hour and you’ll know what we’re talking about.

We seem to have become slaves to technology. Or maybe we have enslaved ourselves and others to technology. It’s something we do both consciously and unconsciously.

Another more dangerous form of digital slavery is data exploitation. Thanks to our laptops, notebooks, smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and whatnot, we produce data without even realising it. And that data is one of the most treasured resources in the world.

Data is produced when we’re working, walking, eating, shopping, paying our bills, travelling, partying and even sleeping. We’re producing data around the clock and the majority of this information is stored without our knowledge.

This data is then transferred for use by governments, companies, advertisers and even politicians (remember how many text messages we received in the run-up to the general elections in November), and none of it is paid for.

Data is valuable because it can generate direct revenue when used in advertising and other promotions. And it can generate revenue on an even grander scale by being the essential ingredient in AI.

We might say ‘no’ to our email address being taken by an app and even opt out of notifications from a website but how about our contribution to the aggregate data collected from the population at large?

People create data that makes the world go round today. So if we are producing it and someone else is using it without paying us, isn’t that a form of slavery?

Data is the key ingredient in the most profound value chain of all and its significant worth is its privacy. So when people don’t have what it takes to determine the level of privacy they wish for, they become digital slaves.