Power, Profit, and Privacy
Power, Profit, and Privacy: Why Government and Big Tech Are the Last Entities to Trust with Your Sensitive Data
physical ones, the idea of “sensitive information” has taken on new meaning. Medical records, private messages, location history, genetic data, political preferences, emotional states—all of it is not only stored but actively harvested, cataloged, and analyzed. The two dominant forces presiding over this goldmine of private data are not individuals or grassroots cooperatives, but government institutions and Big Tech conglomerates. Ironically, these are the two sectors history—and common sense—warns us not to trust with such power.
And yet, here we are.
The Illusion of Security: Government’s Track Record with Data
The promise is always the same: “We’ll protect your information. It’s for your safety. It’s for public health. It’s for national security.” But look closely at the historical pattern of governmental data breaches, manipulations, and overreaches. From warrantless wiretapping to expansive surveillance programs like PRISM, the U.S. government has repeatedly been caught operating in the gray—and often, the illegal—zones of data handling.
Take the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breach in 2015, where the sensitive records of more than 21 million Americans—including fingerprints, background checks, and social security numbers—were stolen. Or consider the broader implications of the NSA revelations, where millions of citizens were swept up in bulk data collection programs without a shred of probable cause.
Government officials change with each election cycle, but the systems they build endure. Once in place, these infrastructures rarely shrink—they grow. What begins as a temporary “public health tracking initiative” or “threat-monitoring database” often morphs into a permanent surveillance mechanism.
Big Tech: Privacy for Sale, Loyalty to No One
Now shift your gaze to Big Tech. These companies aren't just collecting data for storage—they're actively monetizing it. From Google to Meta, Amazon to Apple, the tech industry has created detailed behavioral profiles on billions of people. Every search, click, location ping, voice command, and smartwatch pulse is silently siphoned, analyzed, and sold to advertisers, insurance companies, and political strategists.
Their algorithms know when you're stressed, when you're ovulating, when you're likely to overspend, and even when you might be a suicide risk. And the kicker? You agreed to it—buried somewhere on page 37 of the Terms of Service you never read.
Unlike the government, which at least pretends to serve the people, tech giants serve only one master: profit. And in a global economy, loyalty to any one country—or its constitutional protections—is optional. Servers may be located in the U.S., but boardrooms operate in tax shelters and serve shareholders worldwide.
The Dangerous Marriage: When Government and Big Tech Collide
Individually, both sectors pose major risks. But when they collaborate, we enter truly dangerous territory.
Partnerships like Palantir with ICE, or Google’s now-scrapped Project Nightingale with Ascension Health, show how health data, personal identifiers, and real-time behavior tracking can be bundled and shared—without the consent or knowledge of the individuals being watched. These collaborations blur the lines between public oversight and private enterprise, sidestepping accountability through legal loopholes.
Government lends legitimacy. Big Tech supplies capability. The result is a surveillance and influence machine more powerful than any dystopian fiction could dream up.
Ethical and Practical Common Sense Says: “No.”
From an ethical standpoint, the handling of sensitive data should be rooted in consent, transparency, and decentralization. Neither bureaucracies bound by political agendas nor corporations driven by quarterly earnings can credibly uphold these principles.
Common sense tells us that concentrating power—especially over something as intimate as health or biometric data—is a recipe for abuse. Systems that can't be questioned, policies that can’t be audited, and technologies that can't be opened for public review should never be allowed to manage private lives.
Yet these are the very features of today’s government-tech nexus: opaque, unaccountable, and increasingly mandatory.
An Alternative Vision: Community-Owned, Ethics-Driven Data Stewardship
The answer isn’t to shun technology or revert to paper records. Rather, it’s to reclaim the power of information from the hands of those who misuse it. What if local communities managed their own health databases? What if encrypted, open-source platforms allowed individuals to control access to their digital selves?
Imagine a future where privacy is treated not as a commodity or a bureaucratic burden—but as a human right, managed ethically and practically by those with a stake in it: the people.
What You Can Do Now
-
Push for legislation that limits data sharing between government and private tech companies.
-
Demand opt-out mechanisms for all data collection programs.
-
Educate your networks about the consequences of unchecked surveillance.
-
Support independent platforms that prioritize privacy and transparency.
-
Join or support advocacy groups working to reform these practices from the ground up.
And if you're part of an organization—like EAPCS—you can use your voice to highlight these dangers, collaborate with advocacy networks, and help build an alternative rooted in ethical common sense.
Power Demands Accountability
Sensitive data is power. When that power is entrusted to entities with a proven disregard for individual rights and systemic transparency, the consequences will always fall hardest on those with the least influence.
Government and Big Tech were never designed to be guardians of personal freedom. They were built for control and profit. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise—and start building something better.
Read the Series:
https://eapcscollective.blogspot.com/2025/07/dangers-of-handing-health-data-to-big.html
https://eapcscollective.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-ethical-collapse-of-health-tech.html
https://eapcscollective.blogspot.com/2025/07/power-profit-and-privacy.html
Comments
Post a Comment