> And trust with users is the currency of the 21st century as much as data is the new oil. Is it? The cynic in me feels that the actual currency is "engagement

> And trust with users is the currency of the 21st century as much as data is the new oil. Is it? The cynic in me feels that the actual currency is "engagement" - how many consumers can you keep on your platform. Providing a great and trustworthy service is one strategy to archieve this, but by far not the most effective or reliable. The big players very much seem to prefer a captive audience (through network effects, vendor-controlled hardware, closed ecosystems, etc) that cannot switch away no matter how much they personally dislike or mistrust the platform.