The German court review of the investigation declared consumers are not harmed because > “ There is no evidence that Facebook obtains the consent of users thro

The German court review of the investigation declared consumers are not harmed because > “ There is no evidence that Facebook obtains the consent of users through coercion, pressure, exploitation of lack of willpower or otherwise unfair means.” > The court further found that “whether the users act out of indifference or because they do not want to spend the necessary time and effort … does not matter. Their decision to sign on is ultimately free, uninfluenced and autonomous.” - so it’s okay to obfuscate consumers with lengthy legal docs, that’s not considered misleading (gutless but unsurprising ruling) - no mention of the competitive threat of 3 of 4 giant companies tracking all our online behavior, giant companies with massive VC war chests or close ties to the same, who can pick winners and losers to suit their interests and the interests of their few board-seated investors As far as I see, this is the death of free-market capitalism. We are entering an era of gated-market capitalism. If will erode incentives and ultimately productivity.