Back in 2014, I wrote a quick note on my phone about Facebook. At the time, I was realising how much of our personal data we handed over just by being there: who we know, what we like, where we go, what we watch. It wasn’t just ours anymore. Facebook used that data to serve ads and grow their business.
The note touched on something that still feels true today: this exchange of personal information for a “free” service. Even back then, I was uneasy with how the platform’s terms kept changing (sometimes in small, subtle ways) and how users just went along with it. You’d think about quitting, but then remember how many friends and family members were on there. Social pressure kept everyone connected, even if you didn’t agree with what was happening to your data.
If I closed my account, I knew my data would remain. And I knew the ads wouldn’t stop. If anything, Facebook would still find ways to serve me ads through their vast network. The power of their data collection was far-reaching, and walking away wasn’t as simple as just hitting “delete.”
That’s where I left it in 2014. A quiet frustration, a growing awareness of how little control we actually had. Fast forward nearly ten years, and I’m still thinking about it.
Jonathan Pay - email marketing consultant 
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[…] I found myself looking back on that 2014 note about Facebook. A lot’s changed since then. GDPR came along, giving people more control over personal […]