At some point technical discussions will have to rise above current naivette and various parroted 'laws' and demonstrate understanding of the real world, corporate and human behavior instead of lamenting after the horse has bolted.
Telling whether a site is being served by who you think it is is fast becoming a crucial skill, to the point where I explain at least the basics to even the most technically illiterate people I know who use a computer. It's a real problem, in substantial need of a solution.
I don’t buy this learned helplessness. Schools need to evolve with the times.
We teach kids calculus in school, surely we can teach them to read a freakin URL.