and big tech companies have gotten rid of our data, but many say they have also become far too powerful. so what can be done about these data giants? that's our topic on shift today. ah, a big tech companies collect user data, analyze it, and then use it for their own means. this provides us with a lot of comfortable services, but it's also allowed these global companies to grow incredibly rich and mighty, even in the u. s. people, i'm not saying that google, amazon, facebook, and apple, or gotta have become too powerful. but what does this mean exactly? the global data collection machine may seem to be out of control, but controlling its leave is, are the heads of google, amazon, facebook, and apple. we in directly pay for free services like google maps in whatsapp

without data. every click purchase, all like we make gets collected and analyzed by tech companies. this allows them to better understand that uses and other companies to create more targeted personalized ads. the gaffer group has become infamous, not least because of their cutthroat business models. they take the profit they make on their respective platforms and use this to buy other companies to take over new market areas. not jack competitors or higher top level professionals. over the past decade, google and it's parent company, alphabet acquired more than a $120.00 companies facebook around 80, and amazon around to 90. this makes it harder for uses to escape the clutches of gaffa. take facebook following the popularity of instagram and whatsapp. facebook bought both companies and thus eliminated them as competitors. then

this google, which has often rigged search results to favor its own services. for example, if a user wants to buy something, they may 1st want to compare prices and will likely be led to the service google shopping. if they then get forwarded to a retailer's website. google gets a provision. meanwhile, competing sites like the german eddie arlo, i ranked lower in the search which puts them at a disadvantage. we see a similar situation with apple did used to be important to have a store in a prime location when you were releasing a new product. these days. if you're releasing an app, you need to pay apple to get prime listing in its app store, which gives apple sway in which programs uses install on their phones. amazon meanwhile is no longer just an e commerce and cloud computing giant. it's also one of the biggest media companies in 2019 amazon invested $7000000000.00 into music series and films. and that was

before it board m g m amazon's india division is currently in trouble. according to reports, it's systematically copied items sold by 3rd parties and then rigged search results to favor its own product. the problem is that amazon is not just the platform. it's also a retailer itself, and it competes for customers on its own platform. one woman who is fighting big tech monopolies is lena. com. be answered, ross, scholar and law professor was recently appointed. the chair of the u. s. is federal trade commission and she's got big tech worried. his wife, some call her the wonder woman behind a new wave of anti trust laws. lina con intends to break up america's tech giant. but taking on, gaffer is no small feat. con, was born in london to pakistani parents. the family moved to the us when she was 11 years old, now 30 to conquer,

up with the internet. and she's skeptical about the huge influence, big tech have on society, or the financial times of culture illegal. wonder kent and the new york times described her as a celebrity in the corridors of washington. in june of this year, she was sworn in as chair of the federal trade commission, lena, as part of a movement. the movement is absolutely a threat to google facebook and amazon, as we know them today. lena khan is the youngest chair, person in the history of the u. s. as top competition watchdog, and she's long seeing the need for a change in washington. back in 2018. she said the fact that these dominant platforms, google, amazon, are now effectively serving as infrastructure for other businesses. and that creates a relationship of dependence. but in addition to serving in as infrastructure for

other businesses, amazon and google are integrated and all these other lines and that puts them in direct competition with the companies relying on their infrastructure. she was previously at the open markets institute where a mentor of hers, barry lynn still works there too. she researched how anti trust laws were failing to check the power of a big tech group of sinkers back in the late seventies early eighties. they just changed the rules and they made it easier, far easier for people to make monopoly, to concentrate power. so it's kind of a one to punch, change the rules, and then you have a new technology that rises up in this new radical lead. different world corporation, like amazon 30 years ago would have been outlawed mostella last. you can publish amazons and antitrust paradox. in this article, she argued that just because the new technology amazon provides customers with low prices, it should not get

a pass on anti competitive behavior. these days count has become a sought after interview partner. she is the key figure in the investigation of how big tech abuse their market power. and she has clear views about what can be done about it and why we should all care. there was a very clear recognition in the legislative history that in the same ways that concentration of political power threatened democracy, concentration of economic power. also threatened democracy. user data is worth billions information about who we are, what we like, and even our illnesses and fears is the oil that fuels the diesel economy. it's used to help customers, edwards, and sell products. and more and more aspects of our lives are being digitalized. so much so that global data amounts i expected to increase to $175.00 that a bytes per year by 2025 for reference. that abide has 21 zero's. it's a 1000000000 terabytes. at the moment,

it's mainly the tech giant's profiting from these huge amounts of data. china's rulers think this should change the countries communist party is restricting the unchecked expansion of chinese type giants so that it can profit from data. the chinese food delivery giant may to one has been fined. in october 2021, it was ordered to pay more than 460000000 euros. china's state administration for market regulation, van mae twan, had effectively force to provide as to sign exclusivity agreements with the platform and thus violated anti trust laws. it was not the 1st chinese online company to be penalized. the e commerce titan, alibaba was hit with a fine equaling 2400000000 euros for abusing its dominant position in the market. and that's not all the payment provider ali pay is to be broken up. the plan is 4 separate lines up to be created and part of the use of data turned over to

a new joint venture, partly owned by the state. all of these measures a part of beijing's crack down on chinese tech firms, as the communist party wants strict regulations. according to a law drafted by china's cyberspace watchdog, government bodies ought to be given access to social media algorithms, which uses will be able to turn off. the secrecy of social media algorithms has often been criticized also in the us and europe. but expos worried the new measures in china will lead to posts that favor the potty and its values being pushed. while politically dissident content will be sensitive even more. more state controlled, sold at online giants on the only ones profiting from the digital revolution. is that the right approach or should it be uses who have control over our own data in a traffic jam at a bus stop or in bed?

wherever we are at online activities generate data. but what with the will look like if this data didn't flow mainly into the hands if take giants, what if it were being used for the good of society? i data could help to improve road traffic. it could show where we need more public transport options and identifying which streets are heavily congested, information about which food items we buy could help decide which helps to prioritize. scientists at the found of institute and looking into how the data market can be made safer and more beneficial than if i mentioned to someone wants to have sovereignty over their data. they need to know where their daughter is and how it is being processed. but you also need to be able to control which companies have access to your daughter and what they can do with it. because of this is a part of the democratic process because it entails self determination and being responsible for your own data. what the all been adopted the cities of amsterdam

and barcelona ran a 3 year pilot project that gave people more control over their personal data. for example, citizens were able to confirm their identity in an app without having to reveal their name or social security number. to date no data sovereignty project has really succeeded, however, a fact which is partly due to technical challenges and shuns falling further proof loyalty and a new one. interesting area is anonymity and route among people tend to think anonymity is beneficial because it means they will be harder to identify and can blend into the crowd believe. but it poses a problem for dot to sovereignty. because there we are trying to connect people to their data and so that they can profit from it or to run a poverty inconveniences. by removing that connection citizens would no longer be able to benefit from their daughter because of darren pilots. were how they asked his wife lilian loaf and his colleagues at the fountain hills institute,

say compromises may be in order and blight on an ms. your, when it comes to anonymous zation, they could be a weaker and anonymous zation procedure hon. this would ensure that a person is identifiable, but that they can only be tracked by a number. such a process would require a trusted body acting within the ecosystem. tim's mit i've. yet, the researchers suggest that a public data body or institute should be set up between uses and spec tech. so that uses can better control the flow of their data. although this wouldn't achieve full independence from facebook and co, it would be a step toward data, self renting. mm. europe has atlanta reclaimed data sovereignty, which is the project gaga x. this will challenge u. s. and chinese cloud dominance by creating an open and transparent data infrastructure for the whole of europe. i think it would be amazing. it uses it not

as companies could decide who our data is chad with and what purposes it gets used for. when you pay for services like google or facebook, if it meant you own your data, and if so, how much? let us know your thoughts. let's it for me this week you next time i then jim and with d. w. at any time, any place using video, nevada. we have like a set of sons to sing along to download is that combo t from super. lindsey often use of doing the type of varied courses. put us into active exercises are available at d. w dot com,

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