I like the part where they admit they are screwing their customers:
"For instance, if the default settings are all private, it could be hard for new members to get value out of the sites because they won’t be found by other users."
In other words, if the customers weren't ignorant and knew how the change their info to private, the system would fail. (We know they're calling the customers ignorant, because private-by-default means the system fails because users don't change their info to public. Their logic always assumes the customer isn't smart enough to change from the default value.)
I wouldn't label it stupidity or ignorance, but it is a weel documented quirk of human behavior the default state of opt in / opt out systems makes a huge difference.
This ted talk is an excellent and talks about the very significant differences in organ donation rates between countries that use an opt out system vs. those that use an opt in.
While I think that it is important for consumers to realize that there are privacy features, and how to use them, I really don't think that this is an area in need of governmental regulation. The major social networking sites have privacy options, and if people are worried enough about their privacy, they are fully welcome to enable them.
"For instance, if the default settings are all private, it could be hard for new members to get value out of the sites because they won’t be found by other users."
In other words, if the customers weren't ignorant and knew how the change their info to private, the system would fail. (We know they're calling the customers ignorant, because private-by-default means the system fails because users don't change their info to public. Their logic always assumes the customer isn't smart enough to change from the default value.)