Digital privatization. Destabilization and reinvention of public services
Gilles Jeannot, Simon Cottin-Marx
Raisons d'agir, 2022, 160p.
The development of digital technology is bringing about a form of privatization of public action that is not openly acknowledged: the most powerful private digital companies are taking over activities that were previously the preserve of the public sector: in transportation (Ouibus, passenger information), urban services (smart cities), the use of public space (electric scooters), and even certain regulatory functions (traffic assistance). The computerization of public administrations, the development of online services, and the presence of public services on the internet have been achieved by outsourcing these systems to private companies. The private sector's current conquest of the public sphere is of a completely different nature: it is based on a transformation of the relationship between the state and users (simplification of relations with users, often by replacing public officials with algorithms, widespread use of rating mechanisms, development of the Uberization of tasks). This process is supported, on the one hand, by enormous investment capacities that exceed those of public authorities (engineering, data centers) and, on the other hand, by monopolies that hold powerful patents. Although this privatization often goes unnoticed, as it takes the subtle form of very practical tools that improve our daily lives, its social effects are nevertheless considerable: it destabilizes businesses and administrations, reinforces social inequalities, preempts commons, and accelerates the loss of public sovereignty. Public authorities may mobilize various resources (competitive supply, regulation, etc.), but they too often appear powerless in the face of such a process, which operates on an international scale (GAFA). However, attempts by ordinary citizens to reclaim digital commons are opening up new perspectives, sometimes in the form of activism by civil servants who defend national "digital sovereignty." The purpose of this book is to reveal the real economic and technical consequences of this privatization behind the appealing apps on our smartphones and to show the prospects for resistance and reinvention of public service.