Datados: The reduction of human beings to data in the digital economy

• The term "data" (datum) originates from the Latin verb "do," meaning to give or deliver, implying that the act of providing information involves self-exposure and risk.
• Modern systems use past information to predict and mold individuals, leading humans to incorrectly identify themselves with their data.
• Data centers operate like the meat industry, processing humans as raw material—commodities rather than consumers.
• Privacy is framed as a form of power, essential for preventing individuals from becoming fixed "finished products" with an expiration date.

The Misidentification of Self

• Philosopher Ana Carrasco-Conde argues that data functions as a mechanism that fixes humans into place.
• By anchoring identity in past behaviors, systems eliminate unforeseen possibilities and force individuals to conform to established patterns.
• A human being is not merely the sum of their information; there is an irrepeatable, non-symbolizable essence that defies datafication.

The Mechanism of the Data Economy

• Data centers consume resources to collect, process, and distribute information, mirroring the assembly lines of a meat processing plant.
• In the current data economy, people are treated as products, and every action—from mobile phone movements to web browsing—is harvested for profit.
• This quantification restricts human behavior to the predictable and the repetitive, leading to inertia rather than genuine growth.

Conclusion

• Philosopher Carissa Véliz maintains that privacy is power.
• Exercising that power is necessary to resist being treated as a "packaged good" produced by data centers and to preserve human identity against technological reductionism.