> Google and Facebook have been extremely anti-privacy since practically their inception but suddenly NOW it's a problem because an attached Russian company has been doing what Google has been enabling any company to do, for decades?
Propublica has been reporting on Google and Facebook (and others) privacy issues for most of their 15 year history. See their Dragnets series: https://www.propublica.org/series/dragnets
> Why would this topic be suddenly out of bounds now that Russia is involved?
I did not say that. I am saying: everybody makes use of that info and that's the real issue that must be fought tooth and nail. Not "hey, just now we realized that the Russians have access to this info, sh1t is real, let's stop them!". Meh. What about China? What about a lot of other countries that definitely don't mean you well?
My point was that Russia having access to this info is (1) nothing new, and (2) the smaller issue because everybody with some money and having the ear of Google/Facebook has access to the info.
Suddenly going back to the Cold War mentality of "Russia bad" is not helping the world at all. There are other villains out there and we must be vigilant. I cynically know that people rally when they have a singular big villain but that's a laughable view of the world that never worked in practice.
Propublica has been reporting on Google and Facebook (and others) privacy issues for most of their 15 year history. See their Dragnets series: https://www.propublica.org/series/dragnets
A few examples:
2010: https://www.propublica.org/article/governments-increasingly-...
2012: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-best-reporting-on-fac...
2012/2014: https://www.propublica.org/article/no-warrant-no-problem-how...
2014: https://www.propublica.org/article/its-complicated-facebooks...
2016: https://www.propublica.org/article/google-has-quietly-droppe...
2016: https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-doesnt-tell-user...
Why would this topic be suddenly out of bounds now that Russia is involved?