> My impression of the issue is that most people simply don't care.
This is my impression as well, and I find it a bit of elitist arrogance to tell them they should. Different people value their data at different levels and we shouldn't be so quick to make it harder for them to give it away if they choose. A simple question one should ask while picking up their pitchfork is whether their perceived righteousness is based on perceived stupidity by the masses (and whether the perception is based on some anecdotal evidence). And if you really believe stupidity is that rampant, you can set your law-making pitchfork down and advocate education.
I find it a bit of elitist arrogance to tell them they should [care about privacy]. Different people value their data at different levels and we shouldn't be so quick to make it harder for them to give it away if they choose.
With regards to "shadow profiles", someone else's actions do diminish my privacy. I don't find it elitist or arrogant at all to protect my privacy in this way.
And, if someone came to me and said "stop doing this because it is negatively affecting me", I probably wouldn't think twice before stopping.
The question is if using the internet is more valuable than having your data being tracked by third parties. You can hardly find a single website on the internet where there is absolutely zero tracking happening. You certainly can't use a smartphone without being tracked, hell you can't even go into most stores without being tracked to some degree (it might be different if you pay in cash).
You most certainly can use the web and a smartphone without being tracked.
It's not difficult at all actually.. it becomes increasingly more difficult when you want to use these services and apps which you are the product by design, and the truth is this is week within the rights of those companies that are giving you their services for free..
This is all virtue signaling to the max as well as endorsing a more censored, controlled internet by these media outlets, tech, or govt..
After all, mums the word on an actual problem, the data breaches of credit reporting agencies, e.g. Equifax. These companies have essentially a govt endorsed monopoly on all of our data. And no one goes to jail when my actual important info gets hacked even after being warned, (DL/SSN, last 10 addresses, loan amounts and who I owe, etc.). On top of this, these companies can sell my info to other 3rd party vendors, and I literally have no recourse..
All this Facebook nonsense is hogwash. If your conspiratorial, there is a strong case to be made that this is about censorship, deference to the experts who know the web better than the masses who are "incapable" of using any discernment regarding bots or fakenews. These are the same people who brought us SESTA, FOSTA, PIPA et. al., same ones who told us we'd go back to dial up without net neutrality..
I personally think it's just virtue signaling to the max..
It reminds me of all the people who like Trump or dislike the EU, and all the people who believe that those people must not understand what's going on in the world; and that if only they learned the "truth", they wouldn't like Trump or realize that the EU is really good for us.
Ya know, sometimes people actually do understand and they just don't agree with you. I'm not a Trump supporter, but I believe people who say they like Trump for reasons that aren't "politie".
These anti-Google and anti-Facebook people should learn to disagree better.
Nobody is saying that they shouldn't be able to, rather that they should be informed as to what they're doing so they can actually make that decision. Without knowing what is happening, they cannot make an informed decision.
You aren't aware of every little detail about the actions that companies perform that affects the products you use. You don't know everything about water treatment, energy, housing construction, civil engineering, etc. And you don't know about those things because you trust people who do know to do the right thing. That's how society works. That's how billions of Facebook and Google users are.
Facebook and Google should get in major trouble when they mistreat their data (like the Cambridge Analytica scandal with Facebook), but you disliking the data they collect and/or their business model does not mean that everyone else will.
I know full well the type of data Google and Facebook collect about me and I just don't care. There's plenty of people in the tech industry that don't care either.
This is my impression as well, and I find it a bit of elitist arrogance to tell them they should. Different people value their data at different levels and we shouldn't be so quick to make it harder for them to give it away if they choose. A simple question one should ask while picking up their pitchfork is whether their perceived righteousness is based on perceived stupidity by the masses (and whether the perception is based on some anecdotal evidence). And if you really believe stupidity is that rampant, you can set your law-making pitchfork down and advocate education.