The Most Dangerous Company In The World 2015

7 min readFeb 21, 2015

It is awards season in Hollywood, and if my appetite for popcorn matched my recent media consumption then my selfie would resemble a Sumo wrestler. Sadly if you don’t care who is wearing what, or who wants to be seen on the night with whom at the Oscar ceremony, you already know who is going to be holding statuettes.

An awards ceremony that comes after the Directors Guild, Golden Globes, British Academy of Film and Television Artists to name but a few of the recent awards shows holds few surprises so lets implement a new award. The Most Dangerous Company In The World 2015. Unlike a piece of media, which may or may not impact your life this award recipient already contracts with you on a personal and/or professional basis.

Before we get to the contenders lets clear up some urban myths about evil. Evil does not come into a room with clenched fists and a snarl on its face. That is an option that is kept in reserve and used only when needed. Evil comes into a room with a smile, open arms and a Zuckerberg like enthusiasm for whatever it is you are doing. It is “here to help, and right behind you” because being behind you is the only way to stab you in the back.

The Nominees are:

Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg is not evil. In fact in my opinion he’s the most underrated CEO in the world today. He sees opportunities where others see nothing, and he has the courage to pursue those opportunities. He is not in the business for the money or for the accolades that come with making money. His focus is on fulfilling his potential, and of utilizing technology to ask and answer questions in ways that have never been done before. His youth is both his greatest asset and his greatest weakness as he’s in his Citizen Kane phase right now. When Orson Welles was asked how he had managed to make “Citizen Kane” at such an early age, he replied, “because I had the confidence of ignorance”.

Amazon

Jeff Bezos suffered myriad criticisms for Amazon not being profitable and not having a sustainable business plan and the fact that he has repeatedly proven his naysayers wrong is a credit to his talent and character. Amazon has rewritten the rules of reading consumption, shopping and logistics in record-breaking time and Bezos has gone about his work quietly and efficiently, which are traits I greatly admire.

Apple

Think different. Apple certainly has, and it is now the pied piper company of technology with people around the world including yours truly using their products and services. Imagine any politician anywhere in the world standing up and saying we want citizens to give us their thumbprints, banking information, lists of both personal and business contacts, current and past locations and photographs of everything and everyone who is relevant to you. The politician would be called a fascist, admonished by many media outlets as wanting to establish a national ID card and accused of violating your privacy.

You are the product for all of our nominees, but at least Facebook is “free” and Amazon now and then gives you tangible products cheaper than one can purchase them on the high street. Apple is a secret police chief’s wet dream. To garner more information about you than the Stasi ever accomplished all one had to do was provide people with a personal machine to make phone calls, play games on and offer a selection of apps into which people would willingly input personal information. Who knew?

Before Our Last Nominee — What Does The Most Dangerous Company In The World Look Like?

In structure and actions like every “dangerous company” that preceded it. Each company seeks to dominate and imprint itself within the fabric of society while making itself impregnable to its competitors. Any of this year’s nominees could eventually usurp the others and become dominant in society. The foundation is timeless and the ability to harness the fluidity of technology is what separates winners from losers. The winner this year is just better at utilizing technology, and implementing its vision than its fellow nominees. Now to our final nominee.

Google

“Focus on the user and all else will follow. “ (1)

If one goes to the Google company page rule one of their ten things they know to be true is the above. Ironically “You can make money without doing Evil” comes in at number five. People think of Google as the search engine, map making, e-mail and alternative to Microsoft Office Company. Those are mere components of a far more ambitious company. Google is Artificial Intelligence and home automation. Since 2010, it has been busy acquiring other companies at a rate of more than one new asset per week. (2)

Google garners data from all of your interactions with any of its various guises including YouTube. In the 21st century, your data can and will be used against you to influence your purchases, opinions and civic participation.

No company in a world of rapid technological disruption has a lock on the twenty-first century but by focusing on the needs and wants of the user, Google has rapidly sought to establish itself as both the skeleton and heart of the world. Everything hangs from a Google structure, and all functions circulate via the Google heart. Google is far more agile than any country and legislation written by technologically illiterate, economically challenged politicians is so far behind the technology curve as to be non-existent. The checks and balance system of democracy is further dampened by campaign contributions.

According to the Center For Responsive Politics Google was the seventh highest spending lobby group in America, coming in just behind special interest groups but ahead of any other corporation in the U.S. In 2014 Google spent $16.8 million “do no evil dollars” in Washington DC whilst its subsidiary Motorola Mobility spent another $690,000. (3) That figure may shock you, but it is chickenfeed next to the almost $59.06 billion dollars of advertising revenue that Google amassed in 2014. (4)

In teaching pedagogy, they say controlled curriculum is controlled thinking. According to StatCounter and for the first time since 2008, the use of Google’s search engine has dropped below 75%. As of January 2015 it is now 73.67%. (5)

What you see when you conduct a search is entirely at Google’s discretion as is the use of your information that was input into the search engine. Entrance into Google’s domain ensures that a user becomes used at the touch of a keyboard or touchpad.

Now You See It Now You Don’t

Aside from the fact that the bulk of people are prone to group think courtesy of Google’s curated responses to information, we are also faced with the Orwellian memory hole of even knowing if something is real or actually occurred. Adherence to Europe’s right to be forgotten law (6,7) in combination with Google’s proprietary algorithm filters is a system that is ripe for abuse.

Full Disclosure

I know many people working at all levels at each of these companies. Without exception these men and women are very smart, ethical human beings who genuinely believe they are helping to create a better world. (The employees at Facebook drink too much in the evening but they seem to bounce right back the next morning ☺).

Good character and sound morals are of no consequence to the danger quotient of any entity. The law of averages and the history of the human race tell us that humans are capable of justifying any policy and perpetrating any action. Google by design is a company that at some level and at some time will manufacture misery.

Conclusion: Should We Be Afraid Of The Most Dangerous Company In The World?

Of course not when has fear ever served us well? It’s dangerous just getting out of bed in the morning. Technology is the automobile, nuclear power, the telephone, radio and penicillin on steroids. Never before in human history have we been capable of moving so fast, and so democratically to develop new answers to old questions or accomplish new possibilities that we couldn’t even dream of solving a decade ago. Technology is a quantum leap in our ability to “reach”.

We cannot control the speed of evolution in a global economy. Technology necessitates we redefine and agree upon our shared values and rigorously enforce this humanitarian agreement from Mumbai to Manhattan. As sovereign nations and as individuals we must hold true to those values in our personal and professional conduct.

Elected officials must be technologically literate, and ring fenced from the temptations of directorships, large consultancy fees or anonymous offshore accounts. Politicians must uphold their fiduciary responsibilities to effectively check and balance the relentless demands of the private sector’s bottom line.

We are empowered by the most powerful tools in the history of mankind. In some country’s motivation is founded upon a respect for hard-won freedoms. In other country’s a yearning for those same freedoms motivates and inspires people. Technology at it’s purest is about freedom from the past and the ability to explore new avenues of discovery in every field known to mankind. At its worst technology is a method to enslave and control people and if misused has the potential to dwarf any heinous act of the past. The choice is ours and speaking of choice.

The Winner Is?

Well, that’s up to you to decide. Place your vote and your comments below. Please share this article with your friends and colleagues and discover their thoughts on the subject. Thanks for reading.

Photo courtesy of my delicately balancing the screeners against my new imac and an iphone 6.

Notes

The Most Dangerous Company In The World 2015

Written by Michael J Savage