I don't deny these issues at all. That's why I said regulating to make sure people understand what they agree to is fine. I also think people need to be able to change their mind. There are a lot of specific things that I think are unacceptable (such as employers or landlords demanding access to facebook accounts). As I said, I'm not against all regulation.

But if most people are in fact fine with granting access to their personal data in exchange for services then peer pressure on the rest of us who refuse the deal cannot be justification enough to ban the entire business model.

I'm in the same boat as you. I refuse to use Facebook.