There's no reason we have to accept all this data of ours will be sucked up so these firms can be trillion dollar firms - especially when you consider that most of this technology, from modems to cell signal and chips to the internet architecture itself - almost all this stuff was developed by the public sector in the 70s and 80s under DARPA and the university system.

Economist Rob Larson explores the mechanisms of tech’s dominance over society - as network dynamics create monopolies and build ideological and political power faster than outdated and weakened anti-trust laws, we have to seize the technology sector for the public good.

Rob is author of Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley from Haymarket Books.