The Symbiotic Web

The Symbiotic Web
A new model to understand the gathering, use and retention of personal data on the internet
It helps explain:
Why so much data is gathered
The principle commercial uses to which it is put
Some of the ways it might be used in the future
Why so much data collection and use is covert
The difficulties our legal and regulatory systems have in controlling it
The threats to our privacy and autonomy that arise through it

Symbiosis
Where two different kinds of organism exist together in a state of mutual dependence
Symbiosis can be mutually beneficial - but can also become parasitic, and detrimental to one or both of the parties

The Symbiotic Web
Individuals and commercial enterprises are mutually dependent:
Enterprises have built business models reliant on a currency of private data
Individuals depend on ‘free’ access to many services - from search engines to price comparison web sites, email to YouTube

The Symbiotic Web Users Web 1.0 Content Providers

User/Contributors Web 2.0 Content Providers The Symbiotic Web

The Symbiotic Web User/Contributors Web 2.5 Content Providers/ Information Gatherers

A fractured web?
Individualised advertising, content - and links
For search engines, for example, different search results - or search results in a different order
Overall, the effect is more than just on the individual page, but on the navigation and the whole web experience
Potential benefits, but not in the control of the user

Key components of the symbiosis
Search engines
Communications providers
Social Networking Sites
Geographic services – Google Maps etc
And geolocation services on smartphones etc
Media providers/Services - YouTube etc.
Commercial services – from shops and auction sites to price comparison sites

Competitive drives
The understanding by businesses that personal information has commercial value
Organisations gather more and more data, not just for specific current or planned uses, but speculatively
Once the data has been gathered, there is a drive to find more uses for it, to take advantage of your ‘assets’
New businesses developed for aggregation and profile generation - and to help other businesses use data

Competitive drives
As competition over personal data develops, so do competitive and anti-competitive practices - alliances, cartels etc Beacon and Phorm are prime examples
Drive for more ‘tailored’ services - and potentially price or service discrimination
The need for covertness - when customers know what is happening, they often object - Beacon and Phorm are again examples. Opt-out, rather than opt-in, is the norm
As competition increases and margins fall, less attention may be paid to ‘ethics’

Consequences
A burgeoning market in data - one about which users are being kept deliberately unaware
Much more data is being held - and hence is vulnerable
New data types are emerging - profiling data in particular - which have more significant vulnerabilities
New kinds of risks are emerging - ‘Back-door Balkanisation’ is just one example

Solutions?
Break the dependence - through stronger, better enforced laws?
Change the paradigm - effectively give up on privacy. Accept that this is happening, enjoy the positives, penalise excesses.
Do very little - allow norms and markets to redress the balance.
Weaken the dependence, but support the symbiosis - strengthen the rights of individuals, particularly in terms of information, consent and choice

Paul Bernal [email_address]

The Symbiotic Web

by Paul Bernal

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