[onlyrealcuzzo]

Actually - I would argue the other way around.

Selling user data (for ads) IS the problem.

No one would collect and store massive amounts of data if not to make a profit selling it.

They would only collect things that are useful in improving the product.

That kind of tracking IS valuable.

[scarface74]

Neither Facebook nor Google “sells user data”. Why would they? There is value in having sole access to the data. They sell access to you based on the data they collect.

In this case, I would say FB is more in the side of the angels than Google. People knowingly give FB information about them

[benreesman]

The last thing I want to do is to start a flame war, but I know a lot about this field and it’s been my observation that it’s both important and kind of opaque.

I would be happy to answer questions (within some fairly broad guidelines of proprietary information) in as much detail as anyone would like.

Everything from the technology to the organizational imperatives to the competitive landscape is actually quite complex and nuanced.

I have no ambition of informing folks’ moral judgements (I have my own), but on average it’s probably better if moral judgements are informed by detailed understanding.

[nightgarden]

> They would only collect things that are useful in improving the product.

But if your product is serving ads then collecting data for ads is improving your product