Employment laws were designed to protect rights for employees. Businesses increasingly game the system by converting staff into "independent contractors" whose work is controlled tightly by the company but get none of the rights or benefits of employees.

One way to fight back is for the state to rule that these people are employees or must get the same benefits as employees.

Another, which may be more durable, is to redesign the protection of workers' rights and benefits so that it doesn't depend on who is the employer at any given minute. Benefits should be paid from income taxes and wealth taxes, not from payroll taxes. There should be minimum rates for piecework jobs based on how long they are likely to take, or actually do take.

Face recognition creates a danger of systematic tracking of everyone everywhere, in businesses and on streets.

Suitable laws could reduce the danger, but they have to be strict and stern, not lax. They must go beyond the bare minimum that one might claim will be sufficient. They must not presume either the good will or honesty of the companies involved, or their ability to maintain proper security.

Imagine if people could wear specially reflective jewelry which had the effect of telling most cameras "Blur my head!" Of course, anyone could have a camera which did not obey this, but businesses would need special permission to use such a camera, and publishing such photos would require justification such as serving journalistic purposes. Security cameras, not connected to any network and making only local recordings, would not have to obey the blurring.

For some people, belief that ads were targeted at them based on their "sophisticated" interests can flatter them into being more interested in a product.

I expect that advertising agencies are years ahead of other psychologists in discovering things like this, and already use them.

Thus, the massive surveillance on which digital ads are based not only threatens really important things, such as democracy, whistleblowers, dissidents, and your willingness to state views that are controversial. It also threatens to cause you short-term trouble by luring you to spend more money.

It is well established that people tend to spend more when they are not paying cash.

Don't be tracked (and save money)
Pay cash.

HSBC lobbied Mossack Fonseca to continue serving Assad's cousin despite sanctions.

Atrocities in Conflict Mean We Need the Geneva Conventions More Than Ever.