The process that has led to our phones scanning everything we do and condemning us in an opaque extrajudicial process began with much smaller violations of priv

The process that has led to our phones scanning everything we do and condemning us in an opaque extrajudicial process began with much smaller violations of privacy and trust — analysis of our emails, tracking our movement with cookies, and so on. When these practices were introduced, some people complained, saying they were part of a motion that could only ratchet in one direction: toward ubiquitous surveillance and corporate control over more and more of our lives. Cut to just a few years later, and here we are: "shutting it off would be immoral and potentially criminal". We can't go back! So, that clicking sound you hear is the ratchet turning.