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–Brief–
The Internet
4 minute starting point 📖
8 questions to research 💭
7 ideas to participate💡
“A fine summary.” former Silicon Valley editor for The Verge and founder of Platformer, Casey Newton
–Brief–
The Internet
4 minute starting point 📖
8 questions to research 💭
7 ideas to participate💡
“A fine summary.” former Silicon Valley editor for The Verge and founder of Platformer, Casey Newton
Background
To share research in the 1960s, engineers created a network to connect computers and called it the Arpanet. But the computers couldn’t talk to each other.
The more we used the internet, the better we got at connecting online. But the tools' inventors aren’t too happy about how they're being used today.
- To connect computers that could talk to each other, researchers created a telecommunications network that speaks one language, or code, and called it the internet, explains technology journalist Ben Tarnoff for The Guardian.
- Then, to connect information from any computer, a computer scientist in the 1990s created a system to share information from anywhere and called it the world wide web, explains the BBC.
- The internet is the start of the online world we know today. Systems for connecting information online, or avenues for transmitting data, include: web, text, email, and apps.
The more we used the internet, the better we got at connecting online. But the tools' inventors aren’t too happy about how they're being used today.
- “For a long time I thought critical thinking would help us,” explains one internet inventor to editor-in-chief Gideon Lichfield for MIT Technology Review.
- Now, the inventor says helping people "discover good-quality information” but letting them “decide for themselves" what to accept and what to reject is the best thing a free, or democratic, society can do.
- The web is "coming of age," explains the web's inventor to news reporter Jamey Keaten for the Associated Press. “Hacking, harassment, hate speech and misinformation” are part of the web’s “digital adolescence.”
- Now, the web’s inventor is working on returning the web to its roots as “a space for progress-oriented minds to collaborate.”
What happened
Pages were created on the web to freely connect people with information, goods and services, and each other. But this freedom came with a price.
As more websites came online, the motivation to create better products heated up. Enter: apps.
Governments also use internet tools to communicate with citizens and monitor issues. But some governments use it to block and control information.
Overall, online life makes it easier to connect with people and things that are like us. And harder to accept people and things that are not.
- Owners of these pages, or websites, let other people pay them money to put a product, service, or idea onto a page. This exchange lets websites be free to visit.
- But it's not exactly free, explains senior data reporter Rani Molla for Vox Recode, because "you’re paying with your data." Some for-pay websites might also collect and sell data, explains Molla, including: web browsing, social posts, email receipts, credit card transactions, and location.
- This information, our data, is used to create more fun and engaging experiences for websites visitors, or users, and to make money from organizations by offering very accurate market intelligence.
- Market intelligence is information that explains how to get to know and engage different groups of people, often with the goal of selling a product or service to them. To gather market intelligence, organizations conduct surveys, interviews, monitor competitors, or buy data from different sources.
As more websites came online, the motivation to create better products heated up. Enter: apps.
- Making desirable products free, like connecting people, sharing photos and ideas, and accessing knowledge and storage, makes it easier to attract user attention. And build large databases of market intelligence to attract investment.
- To create better experiences for everyone, website owners started making mobile applications, or apps, to track and analyze data more accurately.
- Apps are (mainly) managed by two mobile-device makers, Google and Apple, and can be created by anyone (ie: a "third" party).
- But, tracking and protecting our data can feel like a game of "whac-a-mole," explains personal-technology reporter Joanna Stern for the Wall Street Journal, after testing 80 different apps.
- There are ways for users to protect their privacy, says Stern, but "there are too many loopholes" for businesses to find new way to track.
Governments also use internet tools to communicate with citizens and monitor issues. But some governments use it to block and control information.
- The "vast majority of internet users" live in countries where governments use social media to "manipulate" societies, explains disinformation reporter Caroline Orr for National Observer, according to Freedom on the Net.
- Freedom on the Net is an annual report by Freedom House, a non-profit research group that surveys and analyzes freedom around the world. This map measures internet freedom worldwide.
- This year's report says Canada has "one of the most open" internets, explains news and data reporters Solarina Ho and Mahima Singh for CTV News, but in many parts of the world, "government censorship and crackdowns on free speech have accelerated during the pandemic."
Overall, online life makes it easier to connect with people and things that are like us. And harder to accept people and things that are not.
- Labeling and competition between humans has always existed, explains neuroscientist and trauma researcher Arash Javanbakht for The Conversation, and it's what makes us more emotional and less logical.
- By creating labels for people and things, it's easier to say "they" could harm "us," which is an ancient survival instinct. And it's rapidly spreading across our online world.
Luke T., Welland | proactivecitizen.org
What's next
As long as internet companies offer free products we like to use, ads and tracking are here to stay. But it’s getting more transparent. Kind of.
Internet companies have been managing things like hacking and harmful content on their own. But governments might need to step in.
In the meantime, there's been a lot of lawsuits against internet companies. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
All the while, the ability to connect is getting faster and expanding further.
- If ads became less valuable, online platforms would collapse or need to find another way to fund their services, explains technology critic Paris Marx for OneZero.
- Subscriptions and paywalls are one solution, says Marx, but it makes certain areas of the internet only available if you can afford it, creating a potential "good-quality knowledge" gap.
- Apple and Google are launching new privacy features, explains cybersecurity reporter Catalin Cimpanu for ZDNet, that more easily explain how data’s being collected and used by third parties.
- Still, privacy policies are harder to understand than medical and legal documents, explains data journalist Kevin Litman-Navarro for The New York Times, who measured the difficulty levels of policies against other material.
Internet companies have been managing things like hacking and harmful content on their own. But governments might need to step in.
- For now, internet companies use algorithms (artificial intelligence) and content moderators (humans) to remove harmful activity or add information that encourages critical thinking.
- If governments got involved, they'd need to regularly update laws to match the speed of change online, explains public law professor Léonid Sirota for The Line.
- The way governments work (research, create, debate, adapt, debate) makes this unrealistic, says Sirota, and suggests guidelines be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and letting companies "continue to sort issues out themselves."
- But understanding the ins-and-outs of a society while promoting an internet company's usual values of freedom and connection, explains big tech and democracy journalist Casey Newton for The Verge, is a "mind-bendingly enormous task."
In the meantime, there's been a lot of lawsuits against internet companies. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
- In the United States, a government report concluded that "Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google have gotten too powerful," explains technology policy editor Russell Brandom for The Verge.
- The report outlines the issues and offers solutions, and Brandom's article summarizes how each company could be impacted by "antitrust" laws.
- Antitrust, or competition, law are government rules that make sure companies can fairly compete in the same industry and that consumers have access to options.
- In Canada, a group of law firms are suing Google for collecting and making money from user browsing data without consent, explains information-technology journalist Howard Soloman for IT World Canada, including in incognito mode and from users not directly using their products. A hearing date has not yet been set.
- Bringing issues to court puts laws in the spotlight to be reviewed and updated to make the law more fair and clear, in theory.
All the while, the ability to connect is getting faster and expanding further.
- There's a "race" to bring 5G to the masses, explains technology writer Klint Finley and editor Joanna Pearlstein for Wired, and so far China's in the lead.
- 5G means the "fifth generation" of wireless networking technology, explains Finley, which means faster and more reliable connections to the internet on mobile devices.
- In Canada, the federal government is under pressure to decide whether or not to use equipment by China's Huawei for its 5G wireless network, explains The Canadian Press, and how to deal with Canada and China's frosty relationship.
- At the same time, SpaceX created an internet service (faster than 4G but not yet 5G) to bring the rural world online, explains CBC's The National.
- People are testing the service now, reports the CBC, saying the cost won't be accessible to everyone and its satellites obstruct stargazing, but it has the potential to "change the world."
- Other internet-service providers, or ISPs, in Canada include Rogers, Bell, Telus, and TekSavvy.
Questions to research
* Should users get a percentage of the profits made from selling our personal data?
* How are tech companies and governments managing the data-selling market, or how our data is being sold?
* Should internet-service providers, or ISPs, accept money to let certain online products, services, and information load faster, or should access remain neutral?
* If everything on the internet was free to access and our data remained strictly private, how would products, services, and information on the internet be maintained?
* What would happen if reliable information had paywalls and untrue or misleading information was free?
* Do tech companies have unfair advantages over news, telecommunications, and offline companies?
* What would a publicly-owned (paid by taxes, managed by government) tech company look like?
* How can the internet solve "offline" challenges in transportation, the environment, housing, and healthcare?
* How are tech companies and governments managing the data-selling market, or how our data is being sold?
* Should internet-service providers, or ISPs, accept money to let certain online products, services, and information load faster, or should access remain neutral?
* If everything on the internet was free to access and our data remained strictly private, how would products, services, and information on the internet be maintained?
* What would happen if reliable information had paywalls and untrue or misleading information was free?
* Do tech companies have unfair advantages over news, telecommunications, and offline companies?
* What would a publicly-owned (paid by taxes, managed by government) tech company look like?
* How can the internet solve "offline" challenges in transportation, the environment, housing, and healthcare?
Ideas to participate
Do a data cleanse.
Check "account settings" on a platform and look for a privacy banner to review what's being collected and opt out / turn off what you can and want. If you use Google products (like Gmail, YouTube, and Chrome) you can review and remove your search history by visiting myactivity.google.com or clearing browsing data manually in history.
Try an app audit.
If you don't want personalized ads or just want your data more private, you can access services from the web browser on your phone or tablet instead of the apps. If this works for you, you can remove the apps from your mobile devices.
See how data is different in Canada.
In the United States, privacy laws are managed state-by-state and give companies more freedom. In Canada, there's one national law for protecting citizens' privacy online, which is similar to European privacy laws. Here's a government report explaining the differences.
Experiment following accounts you disagree with.
Research people, organizations, and news outlets with different views than yours and follow them to get to know how and why they think the way they do. It'll be frustrating at first but over time you just might be surprised what you find out.
Participate in Contract for the Web.
Created by the web's founder, you can endorse, or publicly support, the contract, if you believe in its mission to "bring people together and make knowledge freely available." The contract created guidelines for governments, businesses, and citizens to follow.
Participate in Media Action Plan.
Created by the union representing Canadian media and journalists, you can submit a letter to the Canadian government, if you believe in its mission to get tech companies to help fund local news. With your permission, the organizers create and send the letter for you.
Check in often with government reps for updates.
Find your MP (Canada rep) by typing in your postal code here, find your MPP (Ontario rep) by typing in your postal code here, and find your city councillor (local rep) by visiting Toronto.ca, Hamilton.ca, NiagaraFalls.ca, Welland.ca. Find out what plans are in place for managing information and data and what you can do to get involved, if you want to.
Check "account settings" on a platform and look for a privacy banner to review what's being collected and opt out / turn off what you can and want. If you use Google products (like Gmail, YouTube, and Chrome) you can review and remove your search history by visiting myactivity.google.com or clearing browsing data manually in history.
Try an app audit.
If you don't want personalized ads or just want your data more private, you can access services from the web browser on your phone or tablet instead of the apps. If this works for you, you can remove the apps from your mobile devices.
See how data is different in Canada.
In the United States, privacy laws are managed state-by-state and give companies more freedom. In Canada, there's one national law for protecting citizens' privacy online, which is similar to European privacy laws. Here's a government report explaining the differences.
Experiment following accounts you disagree with.
Research people, organizations, and news outlets with different views than yours and follow them to get to know how and why they think the way they do. It'll be frustrating at first but over time you just might be surprised what you find out.
Participate in Contract for the Web.
Created by the web's founder, you can endorse, or publicly support, the contract, if you believe in its mission to "bring people together and make knowledge freely available." The contract created guidelines for governments, businesses, and citizens to follow.
Participate in Media Action Plan.
Created by the union representing Canadian media and journalists, you can submit a letter to the Canadian government, if you believe in its mission to get tech companies to help fund local news. With your permission, the organizers create and send the letter for you.
Check in often with government reps for updates.
Find your MP (Canada rep) by typing in your postal code here, find your MPP (Ontario rep) by typing in your postal code here, and find your city councillor (local rep) by visiting Toronto.ca, Hamilton.ca, NiagaraFalls.ca, Welland.ca. Find out what plans are in place for managing information and data and what you can do to get involved, if you want to.
Information is power. And once you hold it, you get to decide what to do with it.
–Julie Clark