The Personal API

I really wonder if companies have always behaved like lawless animals or if this is a relatively recent trend. I never see Bell or any other company in older media (or, in fact, current media portraying the past) acting like this.

Is it a combination of dwindling profits forcing companies to search for profits in every corner, even selling customer info? A flood of competition breaking up monopolies? Or something else entirely? Could anyone older and wiser 'round these parts fill me in?