The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

Zuboff confronts the fact that surveillance capitalism differs from market capitalism in three ways: it declares its rights to unbridled freedom and knowledge; it has no interest in reciprocities with the public; and it wants to establish a global, collectivist society, built through Big Other and radical indifference. The concluding chapter then seeks to look at each of these differences and ask if surveillance capitalism is “merely” capitalism, or something else.

While market capitalism stakes its claim to freedom, it embraces ignorance of a kind. Everybody’s lack of knowledge about where the market is going justifies market capitalism’s insistence on the freedom to act. Surveillance capitalism, on the other hand, demands freedom and knowledge. Zuboff argues that this dual ownership of freedom and knowledge means that surveillance capitalism cannot hide under the same argument that market capitalism does to escape regulation. She states, “Surveillance capitalists know too much to qualify for freedom” (467).

Turning to the second difference of reciprocity, which is a hallmark of market capitalism, surveillance capitalism abandons this relationship with the public. Zuboff observes that surveillance capitalism doesn't rely on people as consumers anymore; instead, private businesses are the customer.