[lamename]

On one hand, I'm glad to see popular concern for (or at least media coverage of) personal data privacy issues. On the other hand, I can't imagine this is news to anyone at HN, or anyone who's been following such issues for years.

Ok ok, maybe the mass public is finally becoming more aware of these issues, but they're also even more heavily invested in the services Google/FB provide than when these revelations were first known to a more niche online community.

I find it hard to believe that all this media attention is anything other than too little too late.

[40acres]

I'm of an opposite mind. The tech world has known about these issues for years and nothing has happened. When the Verge or Wired write about these privacy issues the outside world really is not of much concern. But when the NYT and WaPo write about it, and when there are Congressional hearings about it changes is much more likely to occur.

[jimmy1]

Because many of us are employed to take advantage of the current situation of data proliferation. I am. I take your information and I pass it along to our marketing partners. I am a professional spammer. Your data is worth a couple bucks to us. We provide no real value (working on fixing this, atm). I get to feed my kids and take vacations as a result. I guess I will continue to float the moral line until actual harm comes out of this. We take data security seriously. We've straight up refused to partner with people who don't, even if it meant passing a lucrative deal. I have hope that as long as there are people like me out there, it will be OK, but I think the worst thing we can do is not talk about it / shame those that do make a living on ad tech to flee the work.

[kodablah]

> changes is much more likely to occur.

Be careful what you wish for. Weighing all of the possibilities I can imagine and the likeliness of their occurrence (regardless of intent), I'll take the status quo.