It’s an internet cliche: “if you’re not paying for something you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold.” And it’s true, but doesn’t explain why internet companies watch you constantly.

这是一个互联网陈词滥调：“如果您不花钱买东西，那您不是客户，那就是您要出售的产品。” 没错，但这并不能解释为什么互联网公司会不断关注您。

Yes, you don’t pay companies like Google and Facebook for search and social networking. The people who pay them—their customers—are the companies that buy ads. But it’s possible to “be the product” and still benefit overall, and it’s also possible for companies you’re paying to violate your privacy in creepy ways. The modern web has a lot of problems, sure, but users being the product isn’t the main one.

是的，您无需向Google和Facebook等公司支付搜索和社交网络费用。 付款的人(他们的客户)是购买广告的公司。 但是有可能“成为产品”并仍然整体受益，而且您所付费用的公司也有可能以令人毛骨悚然的方式侵犯您的隐私。 当然，现代网络存在很多问题，但作为产品的用户并不是主要问题。

成为产品不是新事物 (Being The Product Isn’t New)

Advertising isn’t unique to the internet. TV and radio have had ads for decades, and for most of that time were 100 percent free to the public. Newspapers, while not free, generally don’t charge enough to cover printing and shipping: advertising is where the real money is (or at least was.)

广告并非互联网独有。 电视和广播已经有几十年的广告了，并且在大多数时间里，它们都是100％免费向公众开放。 报纸虽然不是免费的，但通常收取的费用不足以支付印刷和运输费用：广告是(或至少是)真正的收入来源。

In all of those cases the audience has been the product pretty much from the beginning, and the audience benefitted: they got entertainment and information for free, or at least at a much lower price than they would otherwise. Consumers understood they were making a trade and found it to be worthwhile.

在所有这些情况下，观众从一开始就是产品，而观众则从中受益：他们免费获得娱乐和信息，或者至少以比原先更低的价格获得了娱乐和信息。 消费者了解他们正在做交易，并认为这是值得的。

The internet is the same way: services like Google and Facebook are free because of ads. Millions of people wouldn’t have access to them if that wasn’t the case.

互联网的使用方式相同：Google和Facebook之类的服务由于广告而免费。 如果不是这种情况，数百万人将无法使用它们。

Now, the online advertising model is not without problems. Targeted ads are more valuable than blanket ones, and market incentives means companies are collecting as much information about you in order to better monetize their services. The result is surveillance on an unprecedented scale.

现在，在线广告模式已经不是没有问题。 定向广告比笼统广告更有价值，市场激励措施意味着公司正在收集与您有关的尽可能多的信息，以便更好地利用其服务获利。 结果是进行了前所未有的监视。

But does that mean all advertising is bad? I’d argue not. Surveillance is the problem, not advertising, and it’s a problem I believe society should take seriously and try to address. But eliminating advertising isn’t a practical answer.

但这是否意味着所有广告都不好？ 我不反对。 监视是问题，而不是广告，我认为这是一个问题，社会应该认真对待并设法解决。 但是，消除广告并不是一个切实可行的答案。

您付款的公司还将商品数据商品化 (Companies You Pay Also Commoditize Your Data)

You might argue that I’m wrong, and say that none of this wouldn’t happen if consumers paid for products directly for services in the first place. About that: plenty of companies you pay for things are also collecting data about you, and using that data to make more money.

您可能会说我错了，并说如果消费者首先直接为服务购买产品，这一切都不会发生。 关于这一点：您为商品付费的许多公司也在收集有关您的数据，并使用该数据赚钱。

Amazon, for example, carefully watches everything you do on the site and uses that data to work out what kinds of things you like to buy. This is true regardless of whether you’re paying for Amazon Prime.

例如，亚马逊会仔细观察您在网站上所做的一切，并使用这些数据来算出您想购买哪种商品。 不管您是否要购买Amazon Prime，这都是事实。

And you can’t escape the tracking by shopping offline. , for example, and the data they collect can be downright invasive. Sometimes Target works out that women are pregnant before the women themselves know.

而且，您无法通过离线购物逃避跟踪。 例如， ，并且他们收集的数据可能是完全侵入性的。 有时，塔吉特(Target)会在妇女本身不认识之前就怀孕了。

Netflix obsessively monitors your viewing habits and uses that to recommend shows for you, and to make decisions about the kinds of shows they should make. They even show different thumbnails and trailers for shows based on your watching habits, all to better persuade you to keep watching.

Netflix会痴迷于监视您的观看习惯，并以此为您推荐节目，并就他们应该制作的节目类型做出决策。 他们甚至会根据您的观看习惯显示不同的缩略图和预告片，以更好地说服您继续观看。

These are all companies that you give money to on a regular basis, and they’re employing the same surveillance tactics as Facebook and Google. You might not be their product, but you’re being watched all the same.

这些都是您定期赚钱的公司，并且它们采用与Facebook和Google相同的监视策略。 您可能不是他们的产品，但您却一直受到关注。

您的关注非常宝贵 (Your Attention Is Valuable)

None of this is to argue that “you are the product” is a bad thing to keep in mind. On the contrary: I think it’s essential. Your attention is valuable, which is why tech companies want it, and that’s something you should keep in mind.

所有这些都不是要牢记“您就是产品”是一件坏事。 相反：我认为这是必不可少的。 您的关注是宝贵的，这就是科技公司想要它的原因，这是您应该牢记的。

Every technology company has an agenda, and they design their products to serve that agenda. Ad supported companies have an incentive to take up as much of your attention as possible. But sometimes what serves such a company best really is designing the best product possible.

每个技术公司都有一个议程，并且他们设计产品来满足该议程。 受广告支持的公司会鼓励您尽可能多地关注您。 但是有时候，对这样一家公司最好的服务实际上就是设计最好的产品。

Understanding what motivates a tech company is useful, but it’s even more important to know what your agenda is. When you’re scrolling through Facebook ask yourself what you’re getting from doing so, and work out whether it’s worth your time. The same goes for any service you use or media you consume, whether you’re paying for it or not.

了解什么能激发科技公司的积极性是有用的，但是了解您的议程更为重要。 当您滚动浏览Facebook时，请问自己这样做的好处，并确定是否值得您花时间。 无论您是否付费，使用的任何服务或消耗的媒体也是如此。

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