I don't think anyone is claiming that these companies are acting out of the goodness of their hearts. These companies all have missions, though. Companies are m

I don't think anyone is claiming that these companies are acting out of the goodness of their hearts. These companies all have missions, though. Companies are made up of people. Some of those people believe in those missions and choose to work for those companies for those reasons. A larger group of people are happy to exchange time for money, provided that their company does not stray too far from its mission. It's not a black-and-white choice between "goodness of their hearts" or ruthlessly exploitative capitalism. There's a huge gray area in between, and that's where social and legal guardrails (for better or for worse) have to help ensure that companies act in a socially responsible way. I don't have experience with Facebook specifically, but I have worked with Google's security team. From what I've seen, Google truly cares about securing their users' data in a way that exceeds the standards of other large enterprises that I've worked with. I get a ton of spam emails and phone calls every day, and never once have I suspected that it was because Google or Facebook violated my privacy. I'd rather focus my ire on companies like Equifax or popular browser plugin acquirers or the debt collection system or even mall sweepstakes. All of these entities egregiously violate privacy by blatantly sharing user information, auctioning it off to the highest bidder, or recklessly failing to secure it.