Data for sale - with or without your consent

East Lansing

THE scandal involving Facebook and datamining company Cambridge Analytica dramatically confirms the old adage of "no free lunch". Facebook's more than 2 billion users are waking up to the fact that the "free" online site, part of their daily routine, extracted a stiff price: valuable personal data.

The only way to protect one's data is vigilance by all, though that may well be the equivalent of closing the barn door after the proverbial horse escaped.