&gt; <i>For some reason, though, we don&#x27;t allow that sort of privacy violation in our actual lives.</i><p>Not so much. Your phone carrier tracks all your movements. Your credit car company knows every swipe. Your bank sells your information to retailers. The leasing you did on that car got you into a database of new car owners. Right after you married you started getting offers from Home Depot. And with your mortgage you started getting calls from brokers, asking if you want to put it back in the rental market...<p>The &quot;real world&quot; may not track your anonymous movements <i>yet</i> (NYPD cameras, anyone?), but other than that I don&#x27;t see much difference. In fact it&#x27;s the opposite; the non-online world is more opaque, harder to opt-out, and much more invasive, as it usually involves PII.<p>Another difference to consider: the motivations. In the &#x27;real world&#x27;, we used to pay for goods. In the past you&#x27;d walk to your newsstand and buy the NYT edition for $2.50 (with ads). Nowadays, people feel outraged[1] if the exact same goods aren&#x27;t given away for free (as in beer), and with no trackers, no registration, no ads, no anti-ad-blockers.<p>Something has to give.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;the-digital-reader.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;12&#x2F;16&#x2F;95221&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;the-digital-reader.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;12&#x2F;16&#x2F;95221&#x2F;</a>