From Data to Domination: How Technology Shapes Human Agency
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48112/iijbs.v4i2.1261Abstract
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This study examines how online technology companies leverage targeted advertising, behavioral manipulation, and persuasive technologies to influence users’ decisions and actions. It raises awareness of the covert strategies employed by data-monetizing applications and challenges the notion of individual freedom in an era dominated by technological control. Drawing on Yudhanjaya Wijeratne’s Numbercaste and The Inhuman Race, the research explores the pervasive impact of dataism, surveillance capitalism, behavioral surplus, and digital colonialism on contemporary society. The study highlights how these practices erode autonomy, compromise privacy, and shape human cognition. It further investigates the ethical and social implications of algorithms designed to incentivize corporate participation in discriminatory practices while masking imperialistic domination through proxy datasets. The findings underscore the erosion of personal identity, privacy violations, and forms of digital subjugation in a hyper-connected world where every online interaction is meticulously tracked. This trajectory points toward a future in which individual agency is constrained by complex algorithms, dissenting voices are marginalized, and autonomy is increasingly illusory. The study also examines emerging movements advocating for data privacy and digital liberation, highlighting efforts to resist and reform the pervasive influence of the digital ecosystem.
Keywords:
Behavioural Surplus, Decolonization, Digital Colonialism, Information and Communication Technologies, Surveillance Capitalism, TechnopolyReferences
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