The Negative Consequences from Clicking on “I Agree”- Understanding App, Social Media, and AI Terms of Service

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Rex M. Lee

Latest posts by Rex M. Lee (see all)

• SXSW 2024 Day 5- AI And Privacy In The News, So I Thought? - March 13, 2024
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We all have clicked on “I Agree” without reading the fine print when it comes to the collective terms of service that support operating systems, apps, social media platforms, and AI products such as ChatGPT, but do we really understand the negative consequences from clicking on “I Agree”?

Before consumers of technology can understand the terms of service they are accepting when they click on “I Agree”, it is important for the consumer to understand that Alphabet (Google), Apple, and Microsoft are in the “Information Trafficking Industry”.

The information trafficking industry is centered on the collection of highly confidential personal, business, medical, legal, employment, and location information from operating system (OS), application (app), social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and internet end users, you for example.

Google, Apple, and Microsoft are the gate keepers to the internet meaning that they control access to global internet trade and commerce through their dominance over the OS, App, social media, and AI markets.

This means that app, social media, and AI developers such as Meta (Facebook), Amazon, and ByteDance (TikTok) must pay Google, Apple, and Microsoft billions of dollars annually to have their apps, social media, and AI supported services distributed globally through preinstalled agreements and/or distributed through Google Play, Apple App Store, or Microsoft App Store.

Google, Apple, and Microsoft also make billions of dollars a year from the distribution of their own apps, social media platforms, and AI services through agreements between themselves even though these three tech giants are actually competitors.

The fact that these tech giants collude with each other for the distribution of their own products and services is an antitrust issue since Google, Apple, and Microsoft monopolize OS, app, social media, and AI development and distribution globally.

This means that these three tech giants control the OS, app, social media, and AI markets globally through centralized distribution between only three companies creating a “Triopoly” for lack of a better term.

These three tech giants are responsible for the development of the Android OS, Apple iOS, and Microsoft Windows OS which are the most widely used operating systems in the world supporting billions of smartphones, tablet PCs, connected products, and PCs manufactured by numerous multinational corporations such as Samsung, Sony, Dell, HP, ASUS, Lenovo, TLC, LG, and the list goes on.

You For Sale – Digital Enslavement

From the moment that you click on “I Agree” you are sold into “Digital Enslavement” by the operating system (OS) developer who sells access to their OS end users to intrusive app, social media platform, and AI developers.

Any consumer that purchases a connected product such as a smartphone, tablet PC, SmartTV, or PC is first a Google, Apple, or Microsoft OS end user relative to what OS supports their product.

This means that Google, Apple, and Microsoft sell access to their OS end user (you) to predatory developers that want to use their intrusive apps and addictive social media platforms as vehicles to monitor, track, data mine, and exploit the OS end user for profits through surveillance and data mining business practices.

Today intrusive apps and social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube can be classified as “Legal Malware” enabling the developer to conduct audio, video, and physical surveillance on the end user while data mining over 5,000 highly confidential data points from the end user to exploit for profits.

Data points collected from the end user include highly confidential personal, business, medical, legal, employment, biometric, and location information.

This means that these tech giants are monetizing their end user’s entire life to exploit for profits 24×7/365 days per year by way of apps, social media platforms, and AI products and services.

Basically, when you start using your smartphone or PC for example, you are enslaved as an uncompensated employee working to produce information about your life that Google, Apple, Microsoft, plus their developer partners exploit for profits.

This means that there is no privacy or security associated with the use of a smartphone, tablet PC, connected product, or PC supported by the Android OS, Apple iOS, or Microsoft Windows OS.

It is bad enough to lose privacy, but to be exploited for profits at the expense of privacy should be unacceptable to anyone who values consumer protection, security, privacy, and most importantly individual freedom.

Surveillance Capitalism – How Tech Giants Create Monopolies

Today mainstream operating systems, apps, social media platforms, and AI services are supported by a targeted advertising business model centered on predatory surveillance and data mining business practices.

Surveillance Capitalism is a highly predatory and exploitative business model employed by Alphabet (Google), Apple, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), ByteDance (TikTok), Tencent (WeChat), Amazon, and other tech giants.

Since Google, Apple, Microsoft, plus their app developer partners monopolize the OS, App, social media, and AI markets they can collectively crush competition while controlling innovation plus maintaining control over their customers and/or end users through oppressive business practices.

There are two examples of how these tech giants crush competition while controlling innovation which include Meta’s purchase of Instagram and Microsoft’s merger/acquisition of OpenAI which enabled these tech giants retain their monopolies over social media and emerging AI markets.

Regarding emerging AI technologies and products, these monopolistic tech giants will ensure that AI supported technologies and products will be supported by these problematic business practices ensuring that they will be able to collect highly confidential personal and business information from AI end users to exploit for profits.

Tech Addiction by Design – Brain Hijacking Technology

These toxic companies first develop highly addictive surveillance and data mining platforms that utilize apps, social media, and AI as vehicles to monitor, track, and catalog the end user for profits at all costs including safety.

For example, Facebook Instagram whistle blower Frances Haugen and former Google Product Manager Tristan Harris testified before congress that Meta and Google intentionally develop their apps and social media platforms to be highly addictive using “brain hijacking” technology.

Brain hijacking technology is associated with harmful manipulative advertising technology used to exploit the end users for profits whether the end user is an adult, teen, or child.

Meta Cofounder Sean Parker describes brain hijacking technology as “Dopamine” when he had this to say during an interview with Axios, “How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?…And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever.”

Sean Parker and Tristan Harris have publicly admitted that Meta and Google use harmful brain hijacking technology such as intermittent variable rewards and social validation feedback loops (likes, etc.) to addict their end users to their apps and social media platforms so the end user can be exploited for profits even at the expense of the end user’s safety.

Sean Parker also had this to say regarding social validation feedback loops, “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains” validating that Meta clearly understood that they were developing highly addictive technology that was harmful to their end users, he concluded with this statement, “The inventors, creators — it’s me, it’s Mark [Zuckerberg], it’s Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it’s all of these people — understood this consciously. And we did it anyway.”

It is clear that the FTC and government are not enforcing consumer/child protection and privacy laws when it comes to big tech.

Forced Participation by Way of Contracts of Adhesion (Terms of Service)

Most consumers of technology would not agree to be exploited for profits.

However, today’s consumers of technology are being forced to participate—due to market centralization— on OS, App, social media, and AI products that is being monopolized by a handful of tech giants who all employ predatory surveillance and data mining business practices.

Since a handful of monopolies have centralized these markets for control, consumers cannot purchase any mainstream smartphones, tablet PCs, connected products, or PCs that are supported by secure, private, and safe user controlled operating systems, apps, social media platforms, and AI services.

Consumers of technology are being forced to participate via the terms of service that they do not read nor desire to actually agree to.

When a consumer purchases any connected product they will have to accept all the terms of services that support the OS, plus the preinstalled apps, social media platforms, and AI services that are required to even operate the device they thought they were buying (but are really renting where control of nearly all actions are retained by the aforementioned vendors).

For example, a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone supported by the Android OS can come with over 300 preinstalled apps, social media platforms, and AI products developed by numerous multinational companies, who are enabled by Google to simultaneously monitor, track, and data mine the end user for profits.

All of this is supported by terms of service that include, terms and conditions (T&Cs), privacy policies, end user licensing agreements (EULAs), and in-device application permissions (app permissions).

The contracts are written in a torturous manner making it impossible for the product owner and/or end user to understand the collective terms of service that they are accepting when they click on “I Agree”.

The contracts enable the developers (of the OS, apps, and any included library) to exploit the end user for profits.

What tech consumers need to realize is the fact that they are accepting a predatory and exploitative contract of adhesion, which is a take it or leave it contract, when they click on “I Agree”.

A contract of adhesion means that if the consumer does not accept the collective terms of service that supports all products concerned, the consumer cannot use the product they paid for such as a smartphone, tablet PC, SmartTV, connected vehicle, PC, and the list goes on.

Oppressive Business Practices by Way of Contracts of Adhesion and Monopolies

Forcing a consumer to accept a contract of adhesion is a form of forced participation meaning that the consumer has no choice but to accept the collective terms of service that support the OS, preinstalled apps, social media platforms, and AI supported services regardless of the predatory legalese (legal language) contained in the contract.

Since Google, Apple, and Microsoft dominate the OS market they can employ oppressive business practices that include the ability to deplatform any individual or company for any reason.

Google, Apple, and Microsoft can deplatform potential competition which they have done in the past regarding the distribution of social media platforms where they discontinued the distribution of the Parler social media app by banning it from Google Play, Apple App Store, and Google App Store.

This monopolistic control means if you create something that may go against the grain (like it or not) the market does not decide, these monopolistic companies do.

Although months later they reinstated Parler, the damage was done as Parler.

NOTE: This is a reason why Purism included this language in its articles of incorporation “[Purism] will not discriminate against individuals, groups or fields of endeavor. [Purism] will allow any person, or any group of persons, in any field of endeavor to use its systems for whatever purpose.”

Solutions – Freedom Respecting Decentralized Technology

Companies such as US based Purism are manufacturing smartphones, tablet PCs, servers, and laptop PCs supported by secure, peer reviewable, decentralized operating systems that include PureOS by Purism.

PureOS, for example, supports secure apps and social media platforms developed to support privacy and are not supported by a targeted advertising business model rooted in Surveillance Capitalism.

Many of the apps, including the operating systems do not require the end user to accept a contract of adhesion to utilize Purism smartphones, tablet PCs, laptop PC, or server supported by PureOS.

In other words, the product owner can use any Purism devices running PureOS without having to click on “I Agree” to the shock and delight of Purism customers.

Learn more at: Purism.

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