Looking overseas, it’s easy to see how super apps could give tech companies further grounds to take advantage of existing structural holes. In China, Tencent’s WeChat started as an instant messaging chat but eventually grew to include food delivery, utility payments, social media, banking, urban transit, health care appointments, air travel, biometrics, news, and more. This has led to thefocused largely on government and corporate surveillance, social control, and the creation of new markets.
, which Chris Gilliard and David Golumbia introduced in an article for Real Life in 2021. Luxury surveillance is a phenomenon where "some people pay to subject themselves to surveillance that others are forced to endure and would, if anything, pay to be free of." You might buy a GPS bracelet to track your biometric data , while others might be forced to wear one as part of their parole agreement.