Will the online tech and streaming giants ever be toppled?
Dec 12, 2019 16:48:18 GMT 10
Post by SharksFan99 on Dec 12, 2019 16:48:18 GMT 10
I was thinking about this earlier. We rely so much on the online tech and streaming 'giants' to go about our daily lives without even giving it a second thought. If you want to search for something, chances are, you'll search for it on Google Chrome. Want to watch a video? Yep, that will most likely be through the Google-owned YouTube. Plan on sending a message to your friend? You'll probably do it on Messenger, which happens to be owned by the same company that runs Facebook and Instagram (and you probably have accounts on them too).
Online tech and streaming giants, such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook, have become so deep-rooted into the fabric of our society that it seems near impossible for them to ever be regulated or monitored. They possess the personal information of hundreds of millions of people around the world, ranging from phone numbers, email accounts, street addresses, and even the places we choose to go to. It would appear as though they know more about us than what we do. Heck, if you go onto Spotify or YouTube, both websites will even come up with suggestions for songs/videos based on what you like. We're at the mercy of their power.
It's something that definitely worries me going forward. What's going to happen when virtual reality develops in such a way that it allows us to enter and become immersed in our own virtual worlds? Or how about when it becomes the norm for microchips to be implanted onto people's brains? Will Google have access and control over our minds? It would seem so, because after all, who's going to develop these products in the first place? The tech giants and they're not going to develop these products without the functionality of retrieving consumer data for the purposes of marketing.
I feel as though the governments need to step-in to ensure that our data and personal information isn't being mishandled. As it stands at the moment, sites such as Google and Facebook are arguably on par with our federal governments in terms of power and influence. The question is, can they ever be toppled? Are they simply too powerful now for any action to be taken against them? What are your thoughts?
Online tech and streaming giants, such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook, have become so deep-rooted into the fabric of our society that it seems near impossible for them to ever be regulated or monitored. They possess the personal information of hundreds of millions of people around the world, ranging from phone numbers, email accounts, street addresses, and even the places we choose to go to. It would appear as though they know more about us than what we do. Heck, if you go onto Spotify or YouTube, both websites will even come up with suggestions for songs/videos based on what you like. We're at the mercy of their power.
It's something that definitely worries me going forward. What's going to happen when virtual reality develops in such a way that it allows us to enter and become immersed in our own virtual worlds? Or how about when it becomes the norm for microchips to be implanted onto people's brains? Will Google have access and control over our minds? It would seem so, because after all, who's going to develop these products in the first place? The tech giants and they're not going to develop these products without the functionality of retrieving consumer data for the purposes of marketing.
I feel as though the governments need to step-in to ensure that our data and personal information isn't being mishandled. As it stands at the moment, sites such as Google and Facebook are arguably on par with our federal governments in terms of power and influence. The question is, can they ever be toppled? Are they simply too powerful now for any action to be taken against them? What are your thoughts?
