The article re-articulates the requisite disclaimer that Facebook does not sell or reveal "personally identifiable" information about you. This is misleading o

The article re-articulates the requisite disclaimer that Facebook does not sell or reveal "personally identifiable" information about you. This is misleading on both abstract and practical levels. Practically, if a company runs an ad that targets certain data points, then converts a customer based on that ad, then the company now knows that those data points apply to that customer. Abstractly, at what point do we define ourselves as "personally identifiable" these days, and when does it stop mattering? That is, we spend a great deal of time online generating data-based profiles that become very real identities in their own right. If these identities are of a world where we spend so much time and are effectively being bought and sold, then does it matter that our street address or first name isn't included? Anyone who has ever felt creeped out or "big-brothered" by retargeting is experiencing exactly this breach of his/her alter online identity.