Genesis of mankind shows that each civilization, it its evolution, inevitably passes through three stages – Survival, Curiosity and Sophistication, or, How, Why and Where, or, in other words – “How can we find something to eat”, “Why do we eat” and “Where would be the best place to go out for a meal” (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Adam Douglas )
Shuffle the Deck
There were the times, when merry tourists with canned breakfasts in their backpacks, would cruise the Oikumene with topographic maps only. When they saw a sight, offering them convenience they would harass local passers-by, showing them those maps and begging them to act as their navigators. Those passers-by, should they be in the proper mood, would direct their eyes somewhere afar and start waving their hands in the air and pointing their fingers to the left or to the right , as if calling for Mercury – the guardian of all travelers, and he was the one supposed to pilot those tourists to desired locations.
Sometimes, those grateful tourists, with the help of such magical phrases, as “Have You been there? How is it like down there?” would exploit those passers-by, as guides, as well as hotline operators collecting feedback from tourists.
All above ended when mankind grew too lazy to seek human interface and invented itself smartphones with electronic maps. Strike a screen, and you will see a map indicating all sights and routes already mapped up for you.
Some applications, in addition to many other options, suggest feedback from those, who already had the pleasure or problems attending those sights. And very often, based on the feedback we make a choice, whether to go there or not.
And this is exactly when a rather natural question may emerge, as to how objective those comments and observations are? Who posts them? What for?
Sometimes, the perception is that the feedback comes not from humans, but applications, i.e. the electronic map itself. Very often, one might find rather standard phrases – something like “I liked it there, I recommend this place” or “I did not like it there, I won’t attend the place again”. Sometimes, those feedbacks group together in accordance to the principle of similarity. Positive and negative ones pack in bundles swapping each other in succession. And if to pay attention to dates those feedbacks were posted one might have a feeling that people posting them, had attended the discussed sights in packs.
The above puts to thinking of the manipulative character of the feedback instrument. For example, you have a store selling garden irrigation hoses. Across a street from you, somebody has just the same store. Judging by profits you collect, consumers prefer to buy those hoses from your competitor across the street. What do you do? Sell cheaper? Pay for ads?
What for, if you can avail yourself of such a wonderful convenience, as feedback? Flood your competitor’s website with negative comments, and there you go. Hire starving students, buy them burgers and beer and their short negative comments shall collapse your rivals into oblivion. Add something from yourself – something totally despicable and illogical, for example – “A girl bought a hose there and became a prostitute”. Your rival’s buyers will come to you.
Target — Business
Feedback in e-maps as an instrument of unfair market rivalry appears rather attractive and, of course, profitable.
Let us discuss the well-known 2GIS. Its map is swarming with indications to various companies. Click on the name and you will see a company location and the feedback about the company.
Not, let us fancy your business on that map. One day, you click on the name of your company and, to your great surprise, you learn how evil and disastrous your business is.
As a fair corporate citizen, you, of course, try to answer those numerous complaints, you apologize for things you did not commit and even try to talk to some disenchanted authors directly. And it is pretty much possible that you shall never find those authors. You will find a virtual entity, we know as a bot.
So, what do you do, to get rid of them bots? That depends on moderation of feedbacks. With no moderation, 2GIS would look like graffiti in Compton, L.A. If you have instruments to delete from your wall, calls for Jihad, or love confessions directed to Donald Trump, as well as negative comments about your particular legal entity, of course you will use those instruments.
2GIS, in general, is not just a map with a navigator option. It is a rather attractive method of generation of beneficial relationships with the business community.
Is it of big surprise, that bankers one day came into possession of 2GIS? When we say bankers, we mean Sberbank of Russia. Sberbank is a financial system operating billions and striving to take control of the most precious mineral of our historic epoch – personal data.
How To Transform Personal Data Into Personnel Data
Sberbank bought 2GIS in 2020. Before 2020, 2GIS founder, Mr. Alexander Sysoyev denied all rumors about upcoming sale. He insisted that alliance with bankers was nothing, but a partnership, because the map needed its own in-house wire transfer system.
Then, Sberbank bought 75% of 2GIS. Does it look like a partnership of peers? If to take a look at the sum paid by Russian bankers for 2GIS, some vague suspicion may appear. Sberbank paid RR 14.3 billion, which sum, at the time of transaction, was below the 2GIS market value by USD110 million.
That does not look like a partnership. It looks like a sea-vessel boarding attack under the Jolly Roger flag.
Interesting is why did Sberbank at all show interest to the 2GIS?
To answer the above question, one would need to look at Sberbank events in 2020. It was the year saturated with the atmosphere of panic and havoc caused by Covid-19 and the year, when Sberbank suddenly became very active in IT, and not only IT. Sberbank were designing digital platforms for government services, as well. We remember it well, because our Republic, our E-government, and our personal data were at the edge of becoming parts of the Sberbank eco-system. Western sanctions rescued us from that.
Sberbank, meanwhile were voluptuously dealing with the personal data problem. In 2020, Internet-community were discussing the fact that Sberbank were collecting data about user locations and expenditures. In other words, Sberbank were actively infiltrating their clients’ pockets.
Internet community produced numerous tutorials regarding how to switch-off Sberbank’s ability to track their clients. That, we suppose, was of great discouragement to Russian bankers.
At a certain hypothetical moment, a 2GIS user may reveal, that the screen only shows companies that, directly or indirectly, have warm relations with Sberbank, while services offered by Sberbank’s rivals disappear in the back rows.
Each and every corner in that 2GIS universe has obtrusive advertisement of Sberbank and its affiliates. Feedbacks are, of course, most positive. And there is nothing you can do about it, because it is you who voluntarily give their permission to Sberbank to operate your personal data, including location and wire transfers, every time you launch 2GIS. May be, not only when you launch …
Thus, personal data of users of electronic maps de facto became the property of bankers. And those bankers can use such data at their own discretion, as if those are data of their own personnel.
Terra Miraculous
It is you, upon whose will shall depend the security of your personal data and protection of same from usage and manipulations by others.
Before allowing an app to have access to any data of yours, read the terms and conditions, especially those in petite fonts somewhere in the footnotes. What if there, there are provisions, by which you agree to give access to your personal data, to give up your freedoms and rights, to use your body for transplantation and many other brilliant prospects.
Are you not surprised, when a calculator app requires access to your cam and microphone?
Bankers, especially foreign ones, care not about your comfort and convenience. Business is business and those bankers do not love you, they love your millions in cash, if, of course, you have same. That is why things like 2GIS are brought into existence – they watch you and the time, when you make your first million. Once you have it, you are Pinocchio and they offer you a field, where you will be offered to plant your own money-tree.
2GIS – Big Brother watches you
Roscomsvoboga, a web resource studying the condition of freedom in cyberspace, report that a 2GIS user may have no clues that each step is documented, while personal data may be given to special services.
Sberbank, Avito and 2GIS online-services, as well as some other resources were included into the list of Information Distribution Organizers (IDO).
Resources, included into IDO must keep secret the information about receipt, transmission, delivery and processing of voice, text, sound and electronic messages, as well as information about users, for the period of 6 months following all discussed actions with information. If necessary, such data may be made available to bodies of law enforcement.
Big companies and small internet-sites with limited number of visitors may find themselves in lists similar to IDO. Because they keep personal data and information about cyber-activities of users within given periods of time. That has two consequences.
The first one is the growing demand in data storage systems, because any resource that meets IDO requirements may be included into an IDO list, regardless popularity and quantity of visitors. Inclusion implies mandatory compliance to appropriate official regulations and provisions.
The second is the elementary carefulness, the users will have to practice more. Even an unremarkable site may be an IDO member. If such site’s protection is not up to requirements of security, hackers will easily come into possession of personal data stored there. Big corporations have more resources to protect themselves, but they are the most often victims of cyber-attacks.
Russian Federal Security Service may demand information about IDO members, and such information shall be made available to them with the codes to decipher correspondence.