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In my opinion an outright ban like this is the only way to begin to make the internet a net force for good again. The high profitability of exploitative data co

In my opinion an outright ban like this is the only way to begin to make the internet a net force for good again. The high profitability of exploitative data collection creates a perverse incentive for businesses, which coupled with unfettered capitalism(in the US especially) has led to the current situation with Facebook, Google and others; sacrificing privacy, personal freedoms, and even democracy itself on the altar of ad revenue. This is also a rare window of opportunity where the Democrats control both chambers of congress, making such a ban at least somewhat feasible.

viro 5y ago
yea, fuck those poor people that can't afford to pay subs for every ad supported site they use. /s
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 5y ago
  I didn't say all ads should be banned, just the exploitative collection of personal data to be sold to the highest bidder, which is also what this coalition calls for. How much of Facebook's ad revenue actually goes into hosting and maintaining their social network? Without having looked it up, I'm willing to bet it's a fairly small percentage. Even if, in some bizarre imaginary universe, the only revenue stream that could support a social network like Facebook, was to steal the private information of a sizable part of the world population and sell it to advertisers, is the "service" Facebook is offering really worth that? I don't think so.
  - viro 5y ago
    > was to steal the private information of a sizable part of the world population and sell it to advertisers, Thats not how ad targeting works.
    - lp0_on_fire 5y ago
      Ad targeting worked pretty well before the advent of mass digital surveillance. Every ad does not need a "personal" touch. The diner across the street has paper placemats that are covered in ads - they don't print a personal and customized one for every customer that sits down. They have one placemat that has a wide variety of ads that appeal to the general customer base of the business. That's basically how it worked on the early internet, too. The problem with early internet advertising wasn't how it was targeted - it was that the ads were damned annoying.

viro 5y ago

yea, fuck those poor people that can't afford to pay subs for every ad supported site they use. /s

mtlmtlmtlmtl 5y ago
I didn't say all ads should be banned, just the exploitative collection of personal data to be sold to the highest bidder, which is also what this coalition calls for. How much of Facebook's ad revenue actually goes into hosting and maintaining their social network? Without having looked it up, I'm willing to bet it's a fairly small percentage. Even if, in some bizarre imaginary universe, the only revenue stream that could support a social network like Facebook, was to steal the private information of a sizable part of the world population and sell it to advertisers, is the "service" Facebook is offering really worth that? I don't think so.
- viro 5y ago
  > was to steal the private information of a sizable part of the world population and sell it to advertisers, Thats not how ad targeting works.
  - lp0_on_fire 5y ago
    Ad targeting worked pretty well before the advent of mass digital surveillance. Every ad does not need a "personal" touch. The diner across the street has paper placemats that are covered in ads - they don't print a personal and customized one for every customer that sits down. They have one placemat that has a wide variety of ads that appeal to the general customer base of the business. That's basically how it worked on the early internet, too. The problem with early internet advertising wasn't how it was targeted - it was that the ads were damned annoying.