Article:

Datenarbeit im »Capture«-Kapitalismus. Zur Ausweitung der Verwertungszone im Zeitalter informatischer Überwachung

This article explores the surveillance of users in the context of digital media with a focus not on communication but on production, i.e. the generation and valorization of user-related data for economic reasons. Referring to discussions inspired by Marx's critique of political economy and to a grammatical concept of surveillance as ‹capture› (Philip Agre), the article argues that we are witnessing the beginning of a tremendous expansion of the global capitalist exploitation process. This expansion is technologically supported by developments like ubiquitous computing and smart environments, and it puts an ever increasing part of our existence under conditions that could be called ‹data labour›.