Weaponizing Information: The Power and Peril of Information Capitalism

<p dir="ltr">This paper addresses several of the ways in which the buying and selling of personal information has become problematic. First, information capitalism, or the commodification of information, has transformed the information landscape arguably for the worse. Information has conceptually changed—from existing for the <i>use </i>of individuals to being <i>about </i>individuals. It is being sold to companies rather than shared amongst people, which has dramatically shifted the way information is created and distributed. Information about users, such as their credit histories, criminal records, genetic data, income, voter registration, etc., is being sold commercially through data brokers. Second, much of the information being sold about users is gathered through surveillance, often without the knowledge or explicit consent of those whose information is being gathered and then sold to data brokers. Third, this data, known as commercially available information is sold to the highest bidder, often with the intent to undermine democratic processes. While it is hard to know the full extent that data on individuals has been used to influence elections, it is clear that the effect has been vast, impacting elections on all inhabited continents.</p>