Assembles the documented layers of modern surveillance — collection (Snowden), exploitation (Cambridge Analytica), identification (facial recognition), and scoring (social credit) — and connects them to the business model underneath.
Collection
Snowden's 2013 disclosures confirmed dragnet collection built to capture 'everyone it possibly could.' Infrastructure, once built, gets used to its limits.
Exploitation & Identification
Cambridge Analytica weaponized harvested profiles; Clearview turned public photos into a face-search engine. Capability proven; decisive impact debated.
The Engine Underneath
Zuboff's surveillance capitalism and 'data colonialism' name the incentive: your behavior is the raw material refined into prediction products. The right question isn't 'what do I hide?' but 'who profits from knowing me?'