From Distorted Mirrors to Sovereign Reflections: Resisting the Grotesque Depiction of Our Digital Selves

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.15728v1
• Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2026 10:21:19 GMT
• Title: From Distorted Mirrors to Sovereign Reflections: Resisting the Grotesque Depiction of Our Digital Selves
• Abstract summary: We argue that legal frameworks like the EU Digital Rights and monopolies fail to counter this power asymmetry because they regulate inert raw data while leaving over algorithmic inferences unchallenged.<n>This paper illustrates how data siloing inflicts cognitive amputation, ontological violence, and self-censorship.<n>We argue that securing digital rights requires moving beyond defensive regulation toward a decolonial infrastructure that guarantees the functional transferability of algorithmic identities.
• Score: 0.45880283710344055
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Abstract: As Ambient Intelligence weaves computing into everyday life, human existence has become inextricably linked to ubiquitous digital infrastructures, triggering a crisis of personal data sovereignty. Driven by extractivism and data colonialism, platforms exploit human experience as a terra nullius, enclosing proprietary user models within isolated silos. We argue that legal frameworks like the EU Digital Rights and GDPR fail to counter this power asymmetry because they regulate inert raw data while leaving monopolies over algorithmic inferences unchallenged. Consequently, current architectures act as funhouse mirrors, creating a grotesque, distorted depiction of our digital selves. Through critical posthumanism and four contemporary scenarios (entertainment, e-commerce, fintech, and telematics), this paper illustrates how data siloing inflicts cognitive amputation, ontological violence, and self-censorship. We argue that securing digital rights requires moving beyond defensive regulation toward a decolonial infrastructure that guarantees the functional transferability of algorithmic identities, reclaiming technology for the emancipation of the posthuman self.

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