After the Facebook scandal it’s time to base the digital economy on public v private ownership of data

The data-mining scandal offers a unique chance to reclaim our private information and use it in a way that will benefit us all

The continuing collapse of public trust in Facebook is welcome news to those of us who have been warning about the perils of "data extractivism" for years.

It's reassuring to have final, definitive proof that beneath Facebook's highfalutin rhetoric of "building a global community that works for all of us" lies a cynical, aggressive project - of building a global data vacuum cleaner that sucks from all of us. Like others in this industry, Facebook makes money by drilling deep into our data selves - pokes and likes is simply how our data comes to the surface - much like energy firms drill deep into the oil wells: profits first, social and individual consequences later.