Amazon’s Terrifying Power
by Miki Saxon
Every day when I look through the headlines there’s always another story about Facebook, Google, or another tech company abusing their users and offering the same old platitudes about how important user privacy is to them or being investigated/fined by the Feds, European Union and some other country.
Ho-hum, business as usual.
There is still a certain amount of choice about using Facebook, Google-Android, various apps, and smart products, such as Samsung’s smart TV, all of which can be hacked. And while it takes effort, to some extent you can protect yourself and your privacy.
But even Facebook and Google’s efforts to dominate pale in comparison, as do the dreams of power of every despot, politico, religious zealot, or military organization, to the future Amazon sees for itself.
Amazon’s incredible, sophisticated systems are no longer being used just to serve up good deals, fast delivery times, or cheap web storage. Its big data capabilities are now the tool of police forces, and maybe soon the military. In the corporate world, Amazon is positioning itself to be the “brains” behind just about everything.
Add to that Amazon’s belief that they have no responsibility in how their tech is used.
Rekognition, Amazon’s facial recognition software is a good example.
Civil rights groups have called it “perhaps the most dangerous surveillance technology ever developed”, and called for Amazon to stop selling it to government agencies, particularly police forces. City supervisors in San Francisco banned its use, saying the software is not only intrusive, but biased – it’s better at recognising white people than black and Asian people. (…) Werner Vogels, Amazon’s CTO, doesn’t feel it’s Amazon’s responsibility to make sure Rekognition is used accurately or ethically.
In one form or another, with great power comes great responsibility has been a byword starting with the Bible and down through the ages to Spiderman.
When a company wields the power to bring the modern world to its knees one can only hope it will take that to heart.
Image credit: judon / aparagraph.com
