He applied the "Page 99 Test" to his new book, Profiling: How Predictive Algorithms Shape Identity and the Social Fabric, with the following results:
Page 99 of Profiling: How Predictive Algorithms Shape Identity and the Social Fabric describes how, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the French government used a technique called "nudge" to influence the overall behavior of the population, deterring people from going outside so that the circulation of the virus could be slowed down, and the curve of new cases flattened. "Nudge" means: slightly reorienting the behavior or beliefs of someone, not by constraining her, nor by incentivizing her financially, nor by trying to convince her with an argument, but by redesigning her environment in order to increase the probability that she will take the expected decision. It is a strategy theorized by economists and legal scholars, designed to make supposedly irrational people, in a market or a society, behave more rationally without constraining them (we are in democracies) or convincing them (which is of no use, since they are irrational). A nudge functions by redesigning the so-called architecture of choices, so that the "best" choice becomes more likely to be taken. Unlike in classical paternalism, "best" here is supposedly best for the individual herself, either directly (not getting ill, not losing money, etc.) or indirectly, through her participation in shaping a better environment. The theory of nudge belongs to what economists call "soft paternalism," since the nudging authority does not intend to impose on citizens an absolute idea of what is good: nudges are supposedly meant to turn people toward their own long- term desires, which they risk forgetting by making short-termist choices. Yet, like any paternalism, this theory assumes that the subjects cannot, by themselves, do what is good for them.Visit Philippe Huneman's website.
In the context of Covid-19, the nudge described on page 99 was the obligation to fill out a form called the "self-attestation" before leaving home, on which one indicated the reason for going out - walking a pet, helping an elderly relative, etc. - and its timing (staying outside for more than one hour was forbidden). Going outside when it wasn't mandatory therefore became more costly at every level: one needed to spend time filling out a tedious form, and failing to do so would cost €150 if a police officer checked. This made the choice to "stay home" more likely overall, making the circulation of the virus more difficult, and the nudged subject more likely to remain healthy.
Thus, page 99 of Profiling does not pass the test, since it is a description of a particular nudge, illustrating what a nudge is as a technique of governing populations; it does not tell you what is in Profiling, since it functions more as an example of the concept of nudge - examined in Chapter 4 - than as an element or summary of the book's original argument. It does, however, offer another perspective on that general argument.
The book indeed begins with a description of profiles: sets of data points of various kinds related to a given individual (e.g., you), drawn from innumerable data of all types and formats (gathered by diverse and more or less public means), and allowing for detailed algorithmic predictions. Profiles thereby allow firms, governments, banks, insurance companies, and platforms like Amazon or Netflix to predict one's behavior, tastes, and votes, and therefore to offer tailored consumption of goods and services, movies or music, loans, etc. Profiling argues that, together with these profiles, and with a specific anthropology based on the notion of biases - often interpreted within the framework of a simplified evolutionary biology - nudges define a system that has major effects on individuals (their time, their affinities, etc.), on social structures, and on styles of government.
But one can also enter the analysis of this system by focusing first on nudges, and then on profiles and their algorithms. In fact, nudges thrive in digital environments, since a screen constitutes a fully controlled architecture of choice. With these nudges, profiling - the key concept of my book - takes on a second sense: it is not only about predicting behavior (think of the "profiler" in thrillers) but about shaping it. To profile someone here means to give her what is most likely to nudge her toward a targeted behavior, since her profile predicts - through correlation with other profiles—how she would react to exposure to specific content, especially Instagram or Facebook posts, YouTube videos, and so on. The subtitle of the book - How Predictive Algorithms Shape the Social Fabric - can thus be understood through a meditation on what favors and calls for nudging. In this sense, starting with page 99 constitutes a possible entry point into the system of profiles, which is the structure investigated in my book, Profiling.
--Marshal Zeringue
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