> Which means that their expected value is more than that
But this definitely doesn't follow. Your assumption about "value" is misplaced here. You're strictly thinking monetary value. But if we want to think about monetary value, well Google currently has a market cap of 4.1T, Meta is 1.7T, and even companies like OpenAI are aiming for a 1T IPO. Companies which depend on exactly that data. If you ask me, that data is pretty fucking valuable. Trillions of dollars worth, to be precise...
> ... if a store installs a whole bunch of cameras ... then it probably costs them only a few cents to track me.
Which is a great counterpoint to the argument you were making.
The camera not only works for you, but also everybody else in the store. The cost savings is through scale. So consider the situation where "Mark" is hired to not only follow you but a lot of other people. More specifically, people who interact with one another. That data can be collected in parallel, dramatically cheapening the cost per person being tailed.
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But your point is off-base regardless. The point of my comment was about the data being collected. A physical person being the data collector doesn't scale very well and if we're being honest "Mark" doesn't collect nearly as much as the digital tracking systems.
The point is that it is awareness of being tracked. The average person isn't aware that they're being tracked nor aware of what is being tracked.
Let's put it this way. If I hire some guy named "Mark" to follow you and you never find out he was following you, then you'll never be upset. But suppose I later tell you. Do you then become upset?
Most people will say "yes". So the issue wasn't "how much money" it cost. Nor was it actually "I was aware I was being followed". The issue is that you were /being followed/.
Not knowing you were being followed doesn't suddenly make it okay. But realistically that's the situation we're in. People do not know they are being followed. People that do know they're being followed don't know how much is being recorded. People that do know feel powerless to take steps against it. People that feel powerless just try to move on with their lives and not think about it because it is better to think about things you can change instead of getting depressed.
The issue is someone paying attention to me specifically. Imagine instead of hiring guy to follow you, someone hires a guy to go through your trash. Or someone hires a guy to talk to all your friends. Or even someone hires a guy to go to the grocery store next to your house and buy every box of your favorite ice cream.
Most people would find it creepy. So the issue is not "you are being followed", the issue is "a stranger is paying attention to me".
The camera not only works for you, but also everybody else in the store. The cost savings is through scale. So consider the situation where "Mark" is hired to not only follow you but a lot of other people. More specifically, people who interact with one another. That data can be collected in parallel, dramatically cheapening the cost per person being tailed.
But your point is off-base regardless. The point of my comment was about the data being collected. A physical person being the data collector doesn't scale very well and if we're being honest "Mark" doesn't collect nearly as much as the digital tracking systems.The point is that it is awareness of being tracked. The average person isn't aware that they're being tracked nor aware of what is being tracked.
Let's put it this way. If I hire some guy named "Mark" to follow you and you never find out he was following you, then you'll never be upset. But suppose I later tell you. Do you then become upset?
Most people will say "yes". So the issue wasn't "how much money" it cost. Nor was it actually "I was aware I was being followed". The issue is that you were /being followed/.
Not knowing you were being followed doesn't suddenly make it okay. But realistically that's the situation we're in. People do not know they are being followed. People that do know they're being followed don't know how much is being recorded. People that do know feel powerless to take steps against it. People that feel powerless just try to move on with their lives and not think about it because it is better to think about things you can change instead of getting depressed.
[0] https://americanprivateinvestigator.com/how-much-does-a-priv...