The New York Times
Art Direction: James Datz
“Facebook Data Sleight of Hand: Facebook's claiming that it is not selling user data is like a bar’s giving away a free martini with every $12 bag of peanuts and then claiming that it’s not selling drinks. Rich user data is Facebook’s most prized possession, and the company sure isn’t throwing it in for free. Importantly, this problem is not limited to Facebook. Other Big Tech companies, including Google and Amazon, have similar ad platforms. If a platform can be used to target specific users, then it reveals those users’ data. The advertiser could easily create its own data file based on this information, or merge the information with any other data it has on a customer.”
December 2018