The Big Data Robbery

This is a documentary by NPR in the Netherlands built around the ideas of Prof. Shoshana Zuboff in her book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, which traces how the prevalent surveillance of every facet of our lives began and what has developed.

The film is based around an extended interview with Prof. Zuboff and looks at why it is profitable to collect our data, who gets to use it, and what purpose it is put to. The film also looks at how companies profiting from it are hiding their activities.

The film also discusses the Cambridge Analytica case where the British data analysis firm used Facebook’s data on people for political ends in helping get Trump elected in 2016; and warns against the power big data gives to corporations and governments and why this is dangerous for the future.

The book should be read in conjunction with this film to understand the deeper history and totality of what is happening in our lives, and how people are being manipulated at every step owing to the scraping of their data.