TimeOut

It goes further, of course. Imagine going to a café to chat to a friend. Someone has bugged the table you're at - and every other table in the space - and is evesdropping on your conversation. That's pretty much what happens every time we browse, unless we use VPN, ad blockers, and disable cross-sight trackers, cookies, etc. For these reasons, I've stopped using everything from Google (2018), WhatsApp (2019) and Amazon (2020). All of these companies track, harvest, predict and commodify our behaviour, and sell it.

At some point the outrage at this level of mining will reach a tipping point and we will pivot to an internet in which we own the rights to our presence and companies pay us for our attention. Those that can attract and retain attention will thrive. Those that can't, won't. And the current business model where large, shareholder-run and too-big-to-fail corporations gouge their user base for content will hopefully be over.

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