Abstract
Over the past few decades technology has become ubiquitous, with technology companies gaining increasing insight into the lives of individuals. This paper explores how technology companies use these insights to influence the ability to exercise free and independent decision-making. Through a critical analysis of social nudging, I establish the subtle but significant ways in which individuals can be susceptible to manipulation. Through this lens, I highlight some notable examples of how big tech companies have manipulated individual decision-making and the impact this may have on our democracy.
Highlights
Over the past few decades technology has become ubiquitous, with technology companies gaining increasing insight into the lives of individuals
In 1948, the United Nations established the Declaration of Human Rights and in 1982 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force
While the decision process may be subconscious, Nagatsu (2015) argues that individuals make many subconscious decisions on a daily basis, which they still claim to be their own decisions (p. 489). While this argument may support movements such as Don’t Mess with Texas, it does not adequately support the social nudging practices utilized by tech companies. This indicates that influence exerted by social media and tech companies far out-scales that of local initiatives because online users are targeted directly iJournal, Vol 5, No 1, Fall 2019 and personally
Summary
Over the past few decades technology has become ubiquitous, with technology companies gaining increasing insight into the lives of individuals. This indicates that influence exerted by social media and tech companies far out-scales that of local initiatives because online users are targeted directly iJournal, Vol 5, No 1, Fall 2019 and personally. Data is aggregated and analyzed for valuable insights and tech companies are able to sell this information to advertising agencies and allow ads to be posted on their websites (Esteve, 2017, p 36).
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