I have a family member who recently said to me that if I posted pictures of them on Facebook, they would stop speaking to me. This, entirely understandable, concern stems from their conscious concern that personnel information collection by large companies has a tendency to be abused. Once you have surrender your privacy it is nearly impossible to get back.
What made the conversation stand out to me wasn’t their “fear” of business; but that this particular family member is one that inherently trusts government to solve this (and many other) issues. There seems to be a fundamental disconnect between the perceived danger from business and the real danger of government.
Coca-cola cannot force my soda consumption (or limit the size of my cup.) Google cannot regulate which sites I am allowed to visit, or what the content of those sites can be. Phillip-Morris is entirely unable to limit the extent of my free speech by defining who is, or is not, a “legitimate” reporter. And while Facebook may want to use your personnel information to sell you crap, or profile you activities; it doesn’t have the ability levy punitive damages, listen in on any phone conversation you have ever had, or target you with a drone strike.
One’s personnel privacy should certainly be safeguarded, but a healthy fear of the abuse of capitalism should always be tempered with a real fear of the only institution that has the ability to use force against us. An institution that has demonstrated time and time again that it abuses that force to the detriment of both our privacy and our liberty.