I found this article interesting purely based on the hypocrisy of Facebook being upset at user data being sold. It is alleged that this individual used virtual android devices to perform phone number enumeration scraping. He then assembled a database of user IDs and phone numbers which he put up for sale on a known marketplace for questionably obtained data. Facebook is now suing this person for violation of their terms of service. I guess Facebook is the only one that is allowed to sell their users information.
https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/25/facebook_sues_man_for_scraping/
Interesting post. I don’t know much about anti-trust laws, but I wonder if these could be raised against Facebook. Is it possible to have a monopoly on personal data?
I think there’s more to consider than just data distribution. Facebook can sell their data, but not for misuse. They are also liable for the data they collect. Yes, it can be used for marketing, to target ads, to make inferences based on your online behavior, but it can’t be used to hack your identity. Not to say that some bad actor can’t actually do it, but it’s not “allowed”. It comes down to intent.
To Matthew’s point – Can data be monopolized? I don’t think so. But I think if you collect it, store it then you ultimately are responsible for protecting it. Which gives a sense of ownership.