We have all made a pact with the devil, though of a far more beneficent type than the one in the Bible. In this case he/she/it has no horns or tail but offers us untold capabilities and opportunities at little or even no cost. In return we have to promise to stay faithful (netting us even more chances at convenience and goodies) and keep shoveling more nourishment into the maw that is presented 365 days, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This we happily and willing do, regardless of warnings from both inside and out. And while there is but one Lucifer that goes by various names, in this case there are various versions of Mephistopheles which offer sinful pleasure in exchange for our souls. Or in this case our data, which these days is practically the same thing.
Whatever tribe you belong to (and it can be several at the same time), the deal is the same. Sign up and onto platforms from Microsoft or Apple or Google or Amazon (to name just some of the major serpents) and in return the keys to the world are yours. You are given the opportunity to keep names of friends and family, schedule your daily life, shop for gifts, book travel, listen to music, watch movies – the list goes on. In some cases there's a small fee, though it's usually far less than what those capabilities might fetch on the open market. All they ask is that you permit them to make notes about what you are doing, and use those notes to offer you even more. What a bargain!
And in the broader view it is. For sure there are well documented privacy concerns about letting a massive commercial enterprise not just glimpse but stare at your online life. But if you are like 99% of consumers out there, you willingly sign over that right for the ease and capabilities it gives you. After all, we all rationalize, what difference does it make if someone knows where I like to order takeout (Uber Eats) or how often I work out (Strava) or whom I pay on a weekly basis (Venmo)? I've got nothing to hide, my life is basically boring to any outsiders, so look all you want.
But while that data may be worth more than nothing, most agree you should have at least have control over it. In Europe that was recognized in a formal way with the General Data Protection Regulation put in place in 2018. It includes a number of provisions, including the right of access (so you can see what is being collected), the right to be forgotten (so you can make "them" erase whatever they have on you) and the right of portability (the ability to take that info and do what you want with it). Elsewhere around the world those same rights are generally implied to some extent, though not legally required.
It came to roost for me when the notetaking app I have used for years changed its pricing structure from free to a monthly fee. In those files were all the miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam of my life, from recipes to column ideas to jokes. And while they were worth nothing to anyone else, there were, if not quite priceless, at least of value in my world. While the service was worth something, I didn't think it was worth as much as they were asking. There were other options, and I wanted out. But while they froze the program and didn't enable me to add anything new unless I ponied up over $100 a year, they did provide a way to export all the contents. It wasn't easy or seamless, but over a number of days I managed to download it all, massage it into usable form, and upload it into another program that wasn't quite as elegant but was at least functional. The bottom line was that it took a few more clicks, but at least my rugelach recipe was safe.
It's a transactional ledger we keep adding to every time we go online. We gladly give up our online habits in exchange for something of value. Which begs the question: is your info theirs? Or is it yours? Or to repurpose the title of Brian Clark's 1972 play, whose life is it anyway?
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Marc Wollin of Bedford thinks his online habits are pretty bland. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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