The consequences of mass surveillance: How the collected data is used

ommercial and state mass surveillance collects absurd quantities of data about people all over the world. But what is all the data used for? When your internet behavior has been mapped, what might it lead to?

Quite often, we encounter people who say something like: “Yeah, yeah, so they’re collecting loads of data, but why should I worry?” There are several answers to that question, but one of them is quite simply that data can leak. The ‘normal internet user’ may not care that personal data is stored by one of the world’s biggest companies or by a state authority, but they may have more of a problem with personal information ending up in what’s usually called ‘the wrong hands’. You may not be worried about a pharmacy storing the medicines you buy, but think it feels creepy when the headlines scream about data breaches. Because it’s exactly that simple: Collected data equals data that can leak. If the state, a company or an organization hold sensitive data, they are responsible for keeping it secure in an unpredictable future. That’s a difficult task, particularly when technology is developing quickly and companies and authorities (normal authorities, not the ones carrying out mass surveillance) are struggling to keep up. Over and over again, history has shown how databases are used in the worst possible way when new leaders come to power. We have far too often seen hackers and enemy powers gaining access to data they absolutely shouldn’t have. And how carelessness, poor structures and human factors have led to leaks. Our attitude to this is extremely simple, and our message to anyone storing data is clear: minimize your data storage. Data you don’t have can’t leak.

But unfortunately right now the recurring scandal headlines about data leaks aren’t the big problem. The big problem is that there’s essentially a constant leak, when commercial and state mass surveillance deliberately collects data, shares it and uses it to manipulate and control people for financial or political gain.

We’ve previously described the enormous quantities of data that state mass surveillance systems collect about their own populations – and those of other countries. And we’ve looked at how commercial mass surveillance companies have made it their business model to map your life online. But what happens next? Apart from the fact that you get annoying ads targeting you, how is your data actually used?

The short answer when it comes to state mass surveillance is that several countries in the world have the capacity to look at your collected internet behavior, whenever they like. Depending on where you live, this can have disastrous consequences for you. But mass surveillance also has an effect on the whole of society, which you can read more about here.

Source: https://mullvad.net/de/why-privacy-matters/how-the-collected-data-is-used