Social media companies are the global corporate giants of our time. They make vast profits and hold great influence over our governments and institutions. However, the inconvenient truth is that they have only managed to become so powerful and profitable because they help themselves to our personal data. These are mostly US companies – but they extract and exploit vast amounts of data, and with that data economic value, from British citizens.
At a time when many are struggling with the cost of living, it is paradoxical that vast amounts of money are being made by the richest companies in history from the data being provided by the same people. This data often contains extremely intimate personal information, which is then used to influence people’s behaviour.
