> I don't know what the solution is
Just spitballing, but how about a total ban on behavioral targeting?
Just spitballing, but how about a total ban on behavioral targeting?
If I was to follow a stranger as closely as an entitty like Facebook or Google does and compiled a dossier on that stranger in many countries that would be considered stalking and would be illegal.
Incorporating and doing the same thing to society en masse doesn't somehow make it legal despite it somehow makes people disinclined to prosecute.
I'm thinking of an analogy, and I've mentioned this before in other threads. The concept of statutory damages, as I'm thinking of it, is that a certain level of damages are automatically awarded. For instance this is used for figuring out damages when songs are copied illegally. It eliminates the need to construct a unique legal theory and case for each and every instance. In this case it benefits the record companies, which is of course controversial, but something like it could also benefit consumers.
If a company is found to possess your data, they automatically pay you X dollars, enough to make it a deterrent. You sign up with a law form that specializes in these cases, and they get a share of the damages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy-enhancing_technologies
Which sort of businesses are those?
Monopolies
I suspect it's gonna be clickbaity stuff, gambling apps, distractions and addictions... stuff we can afford to let suffer. If you're actually solving a problem that your audience has, they'll be trying to find you, you don't have to find them. There's a minimum amount of marketing necessary to be findable, but beyond that it's at best a waste of time and at worst a catalyst for other problems that we'd rather avoid.