Lazy Trust in the Digital World: Zuboff, Kant, and the Extraction of Surplus Data

Abstract The commodification of data traces of online activities is central to the digital economy. The result is a ‘surveillance capitalism’ based on collaborations between states and private technology companies: states recommend private companies as stewards of citizens’ data, thus appealing to citizens to trust tech companies to manage their data in a just and trustworthy manner. We adopt a Kantian view to analyze this recommendation, which is founded on a pragmatic relation of trust between states and tech companies. Our analysis shows how the EU regulatory framework is based on self-management of data and guided by principles of transparency, accountability, and protection of privacy, on one hand, and of the free flow of data in the single market on the other. This leads most citizens into a malevolent passive attitude of trust, what Kant would call ‘lazy trust.’ The paper calls for principled regulations more conducive to moral trust in the digital world, particularly regarding data extraction practices.