The Faustian bargain of the digital age—free or cheap digital conveniences in exchange for our data—was only ever explained to us after it was already a done deal. And it represents an enormous and radical shift not only in how we live but also, far more importantly, in what our lives are for. We are all mine sites now, data mine sites, and despite the intimacy and import of what is being mined, the mining process remains utterly obscure and the mine operators wholly unaccountable.

QUESTION: The claim that the data trade was explained only after being a done deal raises the question of when and how awareness actually emerged, and whether any users truly gave informed consent.

Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, loc. 279