The shocking revelations about the extent to which the US government is searching online traffic are troubling and throw light on the curious relationship we have with the internet titans like Google & Facebook. They give us some amazing services for free. In return, we provide them with intimate details of our life, loves and business.
The Harvard Business Review has an arresting metaphor for this arrangement:
"If you've started to think of yourself as a hapless peasant in a Game of Thrones power struggle, you're more right than you may realize. These are not traditional companies, and we are not traditional customers. These are feudal lords, and we are their vassals, peasants, and serfs."
The latest privacy scandal may lead to an overthrow of this system:
"In the longer term, we all need to work to reduce the power imbalance. Medieval feudalism evolved into a more balanced relationship in which lords had responsibilities as well as rights....We need a similar process to rein in our internet lords, and it's not something that market forces are likely to provide."
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