Crystal ball gazer

WHENEVER he binge-watches Netflix, Benjamin Pring likes to open a completely random movie every now and then just to throw off Netflix's ever-vigilant viewing algorithm, so that it can't build a profile on him and give him "ten Scandi thrillers that all look exactly the same".

He's hoping to confuse what he calls a "code halo" - interactions in cyberspace which can create a digital fingerprint unique to you, and only you.

He laughs it off as a silly example, but it's an example which belies the darker reality underpinning the future of the Internet, and one which the Englishman is all too aware of.

As someone who is…