> If anything I think people are grappling with the fact that the Internet just makes data scraping and processing possible on a scale previously unimaginable,

> If anything I think people are grappling with the fact that the Internet just makes data scraping and processing possible on a scale previously unimaginable, Agreed. I remember way back when FB first launched the "feed". Folks on Slashdot (yes, that long ago) had great outcry about how much of a violation of privacy it was. I countered that all it was doing was collating all the posts that people were making on their "walls". Nothing new was necessarily being exposed. People still didn't like it. Someone argued that the extra steps necessary to visit each "friends" wall was a valuable impediment. Obviously, that's a weak position to take, but it reinforces your point: data scraping is easier than anyone seems to be willing to acknowledge. Anything you write in any "semi-public" space should simply be considered entirely public.