This post is in response to the question put forth by @corndog2k2 , "How could big tech surveillance threaten democracy?".
There are many ways in which big tech surveillance can affect a democracy. A democracy is built on freedom, privacy, accomplishing your lifelong dreams, and becoming the person you want to be. A democracy is also led by the people. Huge corporations don’t have the power. The people should hold all of the power in a democracy. America has been extremely affected by big tech surveillance recently, and if it doesn’t stop America will never be how it was originally intended to be.
Everyone should want some sort of privacy. They shouldn’t just be open to letting anyone see everything they’re doing all the time. For example, if you buy products from Amazon frequently, you might be being monitored. In my opinion, you shouldn’t be comfortable with this. However, the majority of Amazon consumers couldn’t care less. All they care about is getting the product they want, and their fine with any monitoring that goes along with that.
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These major companies are often just monitoring us to see what type of consumer we are and what we like, but they could also gather information that could hurt us later on. For example, whenever I enter my debit card information on Nike to buy shoes I would expect my information to not be stolen. Additionally, these large companies will spend billions of dollars each year on just putting together consumer’s information. In short, they will do anything for information. Once they know the information it’s theirs’, and there’s nothing you can do about it. The only thing you can do is not let them have your information in the first place. You should value your information. It is valuable and it needs to be protected. China and other socialist countries in the world give their citizens zero freedom. They monitor them all day. Let’s not let America be like China.