> Is this the end of online privacy as we know it?
That would imply there was online privacy at some point, or at least that it was a thing that all users could reasonably understand and achieve.
If users understood that Facebook's business model might eventually require what (in hind-sight) appeared to be multiple privacy violations, but continued to use the service anyway because they couldn't help themselves, they really never had online privacy when using the service.
For those of you down-voting me, I'm pointing out this is a fallacious argument talking about online privacy. The companies who built these huge platforms didn't bake in online privacy when they built and evolved their systems. Talking about it like we've "lost it" is pointless, but I do think it's worth exploring how we can make it better!
One thing this effort tells us indirectly but unambiguously is that federal law enforcement and surveillance does not have a technical solution for end-to-end encrypted services or Apple's device encryption. If they did, there would be no need to create new legal penalties (and make no mistake, the federal law enforcement and surveillance agencies are the real force behind this effort to defeat online privacy).
That would imply there was online privacy at some point, or at least that it was a thing that all users could reasonably understand and achieve.
If users understood that Facebook's business model might eventually require what (in hind-sight) appeared to be multiple privacy violations, but continued to use the service anyway because they couldn't help themselves, they really never had online privacy when using the service.
For those of you down-voting me, I'm pointing out this is a fallacious argument talking about online privacy. The companies who built these huge platforms didn't bake in online privacy when they built and evolved their systems. Talking about it like we've "lost it" is pointless, but I do think it's worth exploring how we can make it better!