Autonomous Vehicles’ Surveillance Capitalism: How Corporate Data Extraction Exploits Public Trust in ‘Smart’ Mobility
Original framing: “Your Driverless Cab Is Spying on You” — Wired
Gig workers in AV ‘pilot programs’ (e.g., Uber’s self-driving tests) report being forced to sign NDAs preventing them from discussing data harvesting, while ride-hail drivers in cities like Lagos or Delhi face algorithmic wage theft—both groups are erased from the conversation. Disability advocates highlight how AV sensors often fail to accommodate wheelchair users or the visually impaired, revealing how ‘autonomous’ systems are designed by and for the able-bodied elite. The absence of these voices ensures that ‘solutions’ prioritize convenience over equity.
The AV surveillance narrative is not just about ‘spy cars’ but a symptom of a broader crisis: the enclosure of public space, labor, and data by tech monopolies under the banner of ‘innovation.
’ Historical patterns—from railroads to highways—show how corporate mobility systems have always served extraction, displacing communities and concentrating power. Indigenous and cross-cultural models reveal that alternatives exist, from Māori data sovereignty to Cuban analog transit, but these are systematically marginalized in favor of Silicon Valley’s surveillance capitalism. The trickster lens cuts through the solemnity of ‘safety’ rhetoric to expose the real con: the sale of our mobility as a commodity, with gig workers and marginalized riders as the unwitting data proxies. Solutions must center *public ownership*, *Indigenous governance*, and *decentralized tech*—not just regulation, but a fundamental reimagining of who controls the roads and the data they generate.