Data Colonialism: Afraka's Digital Dilemma
Emerging technology has caused for private technology and telecommunication companies to own and control more data than governments. Nation states and corporations are engaging in espionage on national and foreign citizens and this trend will increase as they obtain cheaper technologies. The public and private sector surveillance are infringing upon the rights of citizens as they take advantage of groups engaging in digital services to connect and gain information. The power of surveillance and data extraction by public and private mechanisms is leading to the rapid erosion of democracy, federalism, and sovereignty. Information communication technologies (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and abilities to deploy infrastructure swiftly in emerging markers, are concentrated in few countries, however, now private corporations are rushing to expand into Afraka. We will discuss in this article why this can be dangerous for the continent, its inhabitants and even worldwide.
The situation of digital domination has led to corporations having power over the entire world, as digital technologies permits present monitoring and the prediction of future behaviors of entire populations. The public and private sectors are merging in joint ventures in a quest for the new age of digital colonialism or global domination (i.e. new world order), infiltrating every citizens resistance movement and governments by collecting personal data through digital devices. These corporations impact policies that shape global standards to serve communities by increased methods of data collection, monitoring, and pattern identification. A case study of this is found in the legal suit filed by the District of Columbia's Office of the Attorney General, regarding the following facts:
That Google retained and used consumer's location information even when disabled;
That Google retained and used consumers’ location information through the Web & App Activity setting, which was defaulted “on” at set up;
That consumers could not prevent Google from retaining and using consumers’ location information by adjusting Google Account settings;
That consumers could not prevent Google from using consumers’ location to target advertisements by disabling the Google Ad Personalization setting;
That Google continues to collect and use consumers’ location information even when the consumer’s “master” device location setting is disabled;
That Google apps obtains a consumer’s location information from other sources available to Google, even when consumers deny those apps permission to access location data; and
That Google products and services, including products and services pre-installed on Android devices (such as Google Now, Google Assistant, and Google Maps), could function properly without Location History and/or Web and App Activity enabled.
The District of Columbia, Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Google LLC for the company's "use of deceptive and unfair practices to obta