For years, my uncle refused to have cable installed in his house... He believed it granted government and media organizations the ability to view us through our televisions.
He passed away long before the rise of social media, the Snowden leak(s), and the ever-looming presence of Big Data in our online lives. I often wonder what he would have said about these things.
“Consumers ought to understand that the internet is an advertising medium.”
I disagree. While the internet can be an advertising medium, and is an advertising medium in many cases, I don't believe that's all it is. Is it naive of me to think the web is still a place where people can connect, share knowledge, and exchange ideas (ad-free, without conditions buried in legalese)? If I'm wrong, we as users and contributors of content should be working to change that.
My uncle probably would have opted to go off the grid completely. For the rest of us, that may not be an option; but since there's currently not a whole lot we can do to actively safeguard our privacy online, we can at least keep tabs on the marketers and digital watchmen in the meantime; for starters, I recommend the Disconnect browser extension.
