In a world of rising cost and unaffordable living, how much of your data are you willing to give up in exchange for ‘free’ living?
The year is 2035. Social security is running out and the cost of living is rising. Affordable living facilities are becoming a thing of the past as the rise of automation and income inequality permeates the market creating a new need for a social safety net.
A new market emerged. Back in 2019, as part of a successful pilot project by Sidewalk Labs Toronto, a new digital city was developed by the waterfront of this newly gentrified Canadian city. This smart city was equipped with technology that makes life more convenient for its residents as well as providing a way to digitally supervise its citizens. Realizing that there is a lot of money to be gained by the monetization of this digitally available data, Google soon expanded their efforts into multiple cities across America focusing on the retirement population with a new pilot project entitled, Google For Life.
As part of the living arrangement, residents agree to sign over their rights to all of their data in exchange for free housing and financial support. This arranged quickly replaced the concept of social security, which was dwindling in popularity, as a new social benefit support by a private sector player as opposed to the government. Supporters of the facilities are grateful for Google’s generosity and innovation but there exist debates and apprehension around surveillance and privacy. You are walking into the facility and contemplating if the benefits of such an arrangement outweighs these concerns. Do you sign away your rights to your data?
Google For Life is a speculative conceptual art project that seeks to evoke questions and concerns about the everchanging ambiguous definition of privacy. In a modern world where we freely give up our data for the sake of convenience, how much are we actually willing to give up – and for what?
In the world of social media and digital conglomerates, Google For Life is not outside the realm of possibility. GDPR regulations are only beginning to recon with the power of these tech-giants and its influences on our everyday lives. With Instagram, GPS, Amazon’s Alexa, and other technologies so intimately intertwined with our everyday lives, there is no doubt we are continually giving up some personal data. In fact, studies have found that Americans are willing to sacrifice a little privacy for a little convenience. We are a generation of social media consumers and by default, we watch and are being watched. The question is: are we being watched to be controlled, or are we gaining more control by being watched?
I wanted to investigate our willingness to exchange data, and what kind of data, are we willing to part with for seemingly social goods. In this speculative universe, Google For Lifers sign up to give up all of their personal data in exchange for financial stability. This list of personal information includes but are not limited to data on:
In exchange for all of this, Google for Lifers can live in a Google operated, gamified living facility similar to its corporate campuses. Residents will not have to worry about finances, social affairs, or even meals. Everything is available. Of course, in exchange for all of this, there is a price—your personal data. How much of your personal data are you willing to give up?
To explore people’s definition of privacy, I set out to investigate what aspect of people’s personal data are they most or least willing to give up. With invasive categories like thoughts, and sex life, I discovered that people are least willing to give up something they hold personal to them with personal being more of a unique definition across individuals. Judging whether an aspect of data is personal is less of a science than it is an art. It is specific to the individual being asked. At the moment, the category people are least willing to give up are data on their personal thoughts. It can be argued, however, that social media is an extension of one’s thoughts, albeit curated. On the contrary, people are most willing to give up data on their diet and bowels. Who knows? Maybe a database on what people eat can improve our diets. □
To see how you fit into other people’s definition of personal data, you can explore the project here.
This project was created as part of a collaboration with June Lee.
Shirley Leung is a creative technologist and artist based in New York City.