It's not news that Facebook is gathering and storing TONS of information about its users (and even non-users). Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft are all guilty of the same thing.
When you create an Apple ID, apply for commercial credit, purchase a product, download a software update, register for a class at an Apple Retail Store, contact us or participate in an online survey, we may collect a variety of information, including your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, contact preferences, and credit card information.
When you share your content with family and friends using Apple products, send gift certificates and products, or invite others to participate in Apple services or forums, Apple may collect the information you provide about those people such as name, mailing address, email address, and phone number. Apple will use such information to fulfill your requests, provide the relevant product or service, or for anti-fraud purposes.
In certain jurisdictions, we may ask for a government issued ID in limited circumstances including when setting up a wireless account and activating your device, for the purpose of extending commercial credit, managing reservations, or as required by law.
The problem is that most companies sell that information on to other parties. I've read on the interwebs that Apple doesn't, but I'd feel better if I could see it in a web page or something more concrete.
Disclaimer: I work for Google
Sure, Cambridge Analytica was using the data to influence an election, but Google is not shy about it's own social activism, and it's efforts to manipulate users into seeing it's view of the world.
Google's only protective of our data for selfish reasons: If you sell our data outright, the third party doesn't have need of you anymore, but if Google maintains a tight hold on the data, Google can continually sell the ability to make use of it (through Google's advertising services and the like) over, and over, and over.
The harm to me is the same either way.
I understand your point that we as end-users don't have any control over the way the data is used in either case. But I do think there is a material difference between the two scenarios.
(From what I've found, most people upset with "all political parties are the same" are people who belong to one, and are upset that they get grouped in with people who do the exact same things they do. Not "all political parties" are the same, but the two of them I deal with as a US citizen definitely are.)
The outright lying about purpose thing, by which CA’s key data was gathered, for starters.
Once the data is out of your control, there is no longer any way to control what is done with it. Don't think that Cambridge Analytics are the only ones who did this and who have this data. Shutting down CA won't stop the exported FB data from being put to all sorts of uses.
What is to say Facebook itself or Google can't operate in the same way?
Facebook is a pioneer in letting others dip into their vast treasure trove with doe-eyed innocence and many apologies.