Thread by @nandoodles

The smartest minds in America are figuring out how to get people to click on ads.

The smartest minds in other countries are figuring out how to exploit our lax privacy standards to gain access to Americans’ personal data and further undermine our democracy.

The more I learn about adtech, the more I’m starting to realize “brand safety” is the least of our concerns.

Surveillance capitalism may track & monitor us to sell us crap we don’t need - but they also sell our personal data to the highest bidders anywhere *in the world.*

And believe it or not, some of those bidders aren’t trying to sell us shoes and assless pajamas.

They’re out to undermine the US’s position as geopolitical powerhouse. Having access to American psyche, which we have so helpfully collected for them, is a key part of the puzzle.

Our adtech ecosystem is not just pushing our ads to bad places.

It’s funneling our private data and advertiser dollars to America’s adversaries…and it’s actively fighting attempts to regulate that.

This isn’t a brand safety issue - it’s a national security threat.

I don’t generally like to use inflammatory rhetoric to make a point, but I think it’s time we start understanding the U.S. adtech ecosystem as what it is: anti-American.

As I continue to study this space, I fail to understand how it could be anything else.

I want to be clear: we’re not talking ordinary American corporate shenanigans like price gouging & wage theft.

I’m referring to the entirely breathtaking new level of aiding and abetting our nation’s adversaries to undermine our country’s institutions and basic governance.

The scariest part is that marketers are *addicted* to the metrics this system is built on: impressions, clicks, views, engagements.

They’ll fight tooth & nail to keep this system bc stalking internet users w/ ads around the web is the only way they know how to do business now.

That is why the most critical work in protecting our democracy is actually in…the #marketing Slack channel. 🙃

As we work to dismantle surveillance adtech, we need to offer marketers new growth + marketing models to replace the existing ones.

I believe that working *with* marketers to establish alternative marketing models will be one of the most effective ways to wean us off today’s harmful adtech.

Some (like @dashlane CMO) have signaled they’re open to that change 👇🏼

We are all being held hostage by the adtech industry — and it’s time for us to stop negotiating with an ecosystem that does not serve our interests as consumers, businesses & citizens.

It will not hesitate to destroy us, & we should not hesitate to destroy it.

Did I say “destroy”? I meant “reform” 😀

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