THE country is going through various forms of articulation on going digital. There has been a consistent assertion among experts on how a high-speed broad band could enhance the digital economic system.

There is plan for an aggressive 5G investment to prepare Malaysia for the digital economy. This was according to Central Bank governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus . who spoke CNBC media outlet on October 20.

While we move forward to enhance our productivity by going digital which is in the right direction, there is a lack of balanced insights and even debate in the mainstream media on the shortfalls and the threat of the digital economy to human rights and equity in the context of who controls this vast form of intelligence and the consequences of long-term effects on the privacy and wellbeing of Malaysians.

Surveillance capitalism, as it is called, unilaterally claims human experiences as free raw materials for translation into behavioural data.

Although some of these data are applied to product and service improvement, the rest are declared as a proprietary behavioural surplus which is fed into advanced manufacturing processes known as machine intelligence and fabricated into prediction products and are traded in a new kind of market place for behavioural predictions.

Surveillance capitalist have grown immensely wealthy from this trading operations, since many companies are eager to lay bets on our future behaviour. Our voices, personalities and emotions become the behavioural surplus (Shoshana Zuboff).

It seems the whole digital project initiated by Pakatan Harapan is moving into the direction of raw capitalism without rigorous debate in Parliament and state assemblies on the effects of going digital on national security and the type regularity framework that should be put in place.

The digital economy is powered by a new type of fuel call data. As the data economy becomes increasingly prominent, there are troubling signs that it would create power imbalances within society.

There is already a dimension of domination and lack of accountability among tech giants that provide this service, since there is critical information that tech giants provide that meet the needs and wants of individuals based on his own time and convenience.

The price is to surrender one’s behavioural data to this companies as a reciprocal gratitude for required information.

According to social scientist Zuboff who have written a bestselling book on the age of surveillance capitalism, the author states about ubiquitous terms of service agreement which experts call contracts of adhesion, because they impose take it or leave it conditions on users that stick to them whether they like it or not.

Online contracts, such as terms of service or terms of user agreement, are also referred as to click -wrap because a great deal of research shows, most people get wrapped in these oppressive contracts terms by simply clicking on the box that says “I agree”, even without reading the agreement. This document is excessively long and complex in part to discourage users from actually reading the terms. There is lack of meaning full consent.

Quite some time back I had a conversation with a friend who told me how Google trails his movement since he agreed to its terms and conditions without reading its contents thoroughly. This started from the usage of Google maps. How many Malaysians especially the young read and understand the terms and conditions of services from this tech giants such Google and Facebook?

Therefore, it is vital for Malaysian community leaders, unions, and politicians to come together and discuss and debate the very foundational aspect of digital economy, who controls it, its strengths and also its threats that affect the democratic rights of consumers to be informed on the terms and conditions they are getting into.

There is a need to educate our young and old on their rights and responsibilities in this digital age. The threat of surveillance capitalism is existential and needs to be addressed urgently. – January 27, 2020.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary, Association for Community and Dialogue.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.