Read the following three articles.
- Varian, H.R. (2010). Computer Mediated Transactions, American Economic Review 100(2): 1–10.
- Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of information technology, 30(1), 75-89.
- Runge & Seufert (2021, Apr 26) – Apple Is Changing How Digital Ads Work. Are Advertisers Prepared?
- Answer the following questions.
- Varian (2010) introduces the idea of computer mediated transactions (CMT). What is a CMT and are the four types he talks about?
- What is surveillance capitalism?
- According to Zuboff, what are data extraction and data analysis? What is their relevance to surveillance capitalism?
- How does surveillance capitalism relate to CMT? Are they the same/different? Use evidence from the readings to support your answer.
- Briefly outline three potential benefits of surveillance capitalism and three potential risks of surveillance capitalisism.
- How will Apple’s new approach to privacy settings change the profit calculus of “Big Tech” and surveillance capitalism moving forward?