As B.C.'s privacy commissioner, Michael Harvey calls for a new social contract for the Information Age, emphasizing the need for reformed privacy laws that protect individuals from the exploitative practices of tech platforms. In a recent opinion piece, Harvey highlights the tension between the benefits of online participation and the loss of privacy, using his daughter's experience as a lapsed social media influencer to illustrate the issue.
The Exploitation of Personal Data
Harvey recounts how his daughter built a following of tens of thousands on a film-focused social media platform. While she remained anonymous to her followers, the platform collected extensive data about her, including location, age, gender, interests, and social connections. This information was used to manipulate her behavior and that of her network, without her full understanding or consent. Harvey argues that such practices represent a fundamental imbalance between what individuals sacrifice and what they receive in return for participating in modern digital life.
A Call for a New Social Contract
Drawing parallels to the Industrial Revolution, Harvey notes that it took decades of environmental disasters and human rights abuses before societies demanded better through laws and regulations. He asserts that today's tech platforms operate without reciprocity, exploiting personal data as a resource. To address this, Harvey calls for a new social contract that ensures the digital world serves people, not the other way around. This begins with reforming privacy laws that have been strained by new technologies like artificial intelligence.
Harvey's comments come in the wake of an investigation revealing that OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, violated B.C.'s Personal Information Protection Act by scraping personal data from public websites without consent. He emphasizes that conversations happening in homes across British Columbia must now take place at policy tables to create meaningful change.
Conclusion
Harvey concludes that a new social contract for the Information Age is essential to protect privacy and ensure that technological progress benefits society as a whole. He urges policymakers to act swiftly to restore trust and balance in the digital ecosystem.
