Many corporations don’t want you to understand their true nature. Television has recently been packed with commercials from General Electric touting all the cool devices it builds. For years, GE has mostly been one of the world’s giant commercial lending and leasing companies. Last month, GE completed most of the sell-off of their finance operations because business models for massive financial institutions “have changed, making it increasingly difficult to generate acceptable returns going forward” (GE press release of April 10).
Last week, the Federal Reserve Board issued new regulations for the eight largest banks, designed to shift more of their losses from taxpayers to stockholders when the next meltdown comes. The next bailout will be at least $120 billion less than the last, if it doesn’t happen before 2019, when these regulations start to kick in. GE knew it’s time to get out. Now they’re again the people who make trains run.
Also last week, Iceland sent 26 bankers to the slammer for their role in the 2008 collapse (market manipulation, embezzlement, and breach of fiduciary duties). Iceland stands strong.
Could another massive bailout touch off political unrest and upheaval in our country?
Many people do not understand that Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and many other “tech” firms are really in the business of selling advertising. The more complete the information they compile about you, the more their complex, secret software can create a profile that can match you up to advertisers.
You are the product. Advertisers are the real customers. The extent to which this is happening is still not grasped by most Americans.
Check out paragraph 47b(1) of the Apple terms of service. Siri will record what you say and may send it to other companies. It will also record the names of contacts and your relationship to them, the electronic devices you have in your home and location information.
In 2014, Apple patented technology that will check your bank account and send appropriate ads to you based on what you can afford.
They aren’t just selling advertising, they are selling mountains of data. While your personal healthcare information is supposedly protected by federal privacy laws, data from Apple Watch, Fitbit and other health trackers isn’t. Insurance companies are the country’s largest purchasers of data. Last June, Allstate was issued a patent for a driving-behavior database intended for health insurers, lenders, credit-rating agencies, marketers and potential employers, all of whom might like to know if you do a lot of hard-braking. It will also use steering wheel sensors to evaluate heart rate, blood pressure and electrocardiogram signals.
Early next year, depending on your update settings, Windows 10 will automatically download onto computers using Windows 7 or 8. It “will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content,” including emails and files in private folders. You can opt out. I’m sure your Mom and grandpa won’t have any trouble figuring out how.
Verizon phones have a hidden app that tracks gender, age range and interests; as of last month, the data is being shared with AOL’s ad network, which places ads on 40 percent of all web sites. Uber is starting its push into Long Island, and its handy app tracks user locations 24/7, even if the app is turned off.
Running parallel to all of this is the collection of mass data on the American public by the government, some of it unauthorized and shrouded in lies and equivocations. Federal agencies supplement their own data mountain with private sector data. In addition to everything else, the government and corporations are also harvesting and digitally storing voiceprints.
A powerful central government works in tandem with powerful corporations to track the activities of the population through intensive surveillance. When has that ever gone wrong?
Refer to the fourth paragraph.
Michael Miller (mmillercolumn@gmail.com) has worked in state and local government. He lives in New Hyde Park. The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the publisher or Anton Media Group.
