The hypermodern individual facing big data
Big data, data mining, profiling and the individual and collective decision-making apps derived from them rightfully alarm those among us who feel concerned by the protection of our privacy in an environment that keeps records of all our actions and by the development of new forms of governance ever better informed by predictive algorithms. This article, however, argues in favor of the opposite assumption. It indeed suggests that, far from sustaining the decline of individual autonomy or the annihilation of the self as an autonomous and reflexive person entitled to freedom of choice, personal profiles may lead to a re-awakening of the self while being repeatedly confronted to purely quantitative and utilitarian images of oneself. Choices are therefore being made based not only on narcissistic, utilitarian and quantitative motives but also on principles of individual, ethical and moral coherence which ultimately make life more meaningful.