In a follow-up video discussing the Facebook privacy lawsuit, I addressed several questions from viewers about my decision to opt out of the suit. You can see the update video here.
In the new video I emphasized that my choice is grounded in the principle of taking a stand against abuse from corporations and lawyers.
To illustrate my point, I compared the current privacy lawsuit to a previous lawsuit against Facebook regarding facial recognition. In that case, Judge James Donato of California pushed for a better settlement that was 3 times higher than what was originally negotiated, resulting in increased payouts for affected consumers, less money to the lawyers and a narrower scope of immunity for Facebook.
In other words, “we the people” still have some power to influence decisions that lead to better outcomes. But we have to choose to exercise that power and unfortunately too many don’t.
In the video I shed light on the phenomenon of “no action bias,” which refers to people’s preference to do nothing over something. This, I believe, often leads to consumers accepting unfavorable situations. I use an example of my local power company Eversource doubling electric supply rates and how 82% of consumers opted to pay more vs. filling out a simple form to pick a lower cost supplier.
I urge all consumers to be proactive in taking principled stands against corporate and legal abuse. It is only through our collective efforts that we can make a real difference and hold corporations and lawyers accountable for their actions.