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Every single thing that has ever been marketed to you was designed with one objective: to get you to buy/use it. That’s it. Obvious? Perhaps. But beware, the levels of sophistication which are now aggressively employed by corporations in the pursuit of this one objective cannot be understated. You are being coerced into making decisions without thinking. You are being coerced into making decisions without knowing you’re making decisions. The boundary between free choice and coercion has never been so blurred.
It is your job to discern the real from the fake. Own your decisions.
We all need to develop ways of assessing our tech and filtering out the junk. In the following 3 sections I attempt to make some modest suggestions towards this goal. Each section represents a personal filter of mine which I exercise in real life and apply instinctively. (I promise you I don’t have flashcards of these things which I carry around and review every time I open up an app store…)
Ultimately, your filters will differ from mine. And that’s fine, so long as the filters are truly yours. Insist that this be the case. Do not be lazy.
There is significant overlap between these sections. They are essentially each using slightly different angles to make the same point: you are in charge.
The Spectrum
Technology is a tool. But who is the tool working for? And what, or who is the tool working on? The answers to these questions are not always straightforward. All tech can be thought of as existing on a spectrum. Have a look at the image below. At the two ends of the spectrum we have:
- Tech that’s truly built for you (autonomy) = 1
- Tech that’s been built to work on you and for someone else (abuse) = -1
Every device you “own”, every app you’ve installed, they all exist on The Spectrum. The question is, where?
Any time you’re own your phone, or on an app store, think about this spectrum and respond accordingly. Here are some questions you can ask yourself that may help:
- From a technical standpoint, what does this actually do?
- Does this connect to the internet when it doesn’t need to?
- What permissions does this want from my device?
- What kind of behaviours does this encourage?
- Does this give me a lot of control or am I forced into a restricted position with few options?
- Is this designed to keep me stuck and generating money for someone else?
- Who made this thing and are they reputable?
- Is the software open source?
If you are gladly using anything with a negative score, you’ve got some explaining to do. Negative score = malware. Read the next section.
Is it malware?
Malware ("malicious software) is everywhere. It can be defined in a number of ways. Most generally, however, you can think of malware as simply any software that intentionally “does something bad”.
Many of us have been taught, one way or another, how to identify malware. We can effortlessly dodge all phishing attempts. We know that the random advert about an “antivirus” probably isn’t legit. Fair enough. But who defines what’s “bad”? You do. (I make no apologies for beating this dead horse.) And what might you call “malware” if you gave it more thought?
Since this is my website, let’s consider one particular way that I define “bad”: covert recording of my data.
“I was talking to my friend about my itchy toes and then later that day I got an ad about athlete’s foot 😂😂”
Stop it. Malware. Let’s consider some more examples:
- A device that pretends to be your helper whilst it constantly records everything you say? Malware. These days we called them smart speakers/phones/TVs.
- Software that covertly logs all your activity on your computer whilst pretending to boost your productivity? Malware. These days we call them AI assistants.
- A phone which comes with unnecessary pre-installed apps that you can’t even delete? A purist (which I am) would call this malware. (This can only be understood if you fundamentally understand what it means to NOT be some corporation’s plaything. Let the reader understand.)
“But your examples of malware aren’t fair because these things can also be used in great ways that make my life so much more convenient!!!!!”
Yes and no. Obviously I am dabbling in hyperbole. Everything is a trade-off that must be made on your own terms.
This section may feel like a repetition of The Spectrum (and in some ways it is) but the focus here is on reclaiming the language we use about our tech. You are in charge and the language you use must reinforce that.
If you’re presented with tech that insists on doing something you don’t want, then call it what it is: malware.
Oh, and have some self-respect too. Convenience isn’t everything.
Sense check flowchart
An extremely important question to ask yourself before accepting any tech into your life is:
“What do I actually want?”
Having a good answer to this question should help remind you that you’re the one in charge - technology is supposed to submit to you. Then, if you’re presented with a certain technology that appears to achieve whatever it is you desire, you may find it helpful to work through the flowchart to assess whether it is worthy of you.
Another important thing about this flowchart is that it will prepare in you some readiness to consider alternatives if you conclude that a certain type of tech fails the flowchart. Believe me, there often are alternatives.
I think this flowchart speaks for itself, but here are some key points:
- Be ruthless. Don’t waste your time on something that you don’t need or that you don’t seriously want. We’re not ascetics over here, you’re allowed to want something that you don’t strictly need. But answering the “But should I?” question properly is incredibly important.
- If you identify a certain technology to be abusive in some way, you must look for an alternative.
- If you must use tech that has embedded abuse, you must create your own action plan to combat this meaningfully.
Having your own action plan is crucial. This is a practice that prompts you to take a stand for yourself - a practice that is becoming increasingly rare in our technocratic era. Recognise what you will not put up with and then do something about it. A good example is social media. If you have to use it, then a reasonable action plan could be to only use it to interact directly with accounts of your choosing and to avoid all algorithmically generated infinite feeds.