This isn't a new problem. We "know" the common people don't care because all attempts at scandalizing this in the media, for years, have not found much resonance.
If people didn't care about privacy, companies wouldn't be so opposed to regulations requiring them to get consent before selling personal information. Advertisers wouldn't disguise targeting to avoid creeping people out. Uber wouldn't have deleted a blog post mapping one-night stands. Republicans wouldn't have had any reason to spin this bill as being about which agency should have authority.
People do more to protect their privacy when they know it's being violated, understand the impact, and believe they can do something about it.
Some people care about privacy. Most probably may even care about it to some degree, but not to the degree where they sacrifice their convenience for it.
Again, the media has done its best to scandalize the very real privacy concerns with companies like Google and Facebook. Did it hurt their success with the unwashed masses?
If privacy was really such a big deal, why would Uber write that blog post in the first place? Sure, enough people complained online to get it pulled, but that's not representative.
To wake people up, we'd need a real "story" here, like somebody getting fired over googling something relatively innocent.
Finally, if advertisers really try to disguise targeting, they're doing a terrible job at it. Just try turning adblock off for a moment to see for yourself. Yes, even the common folk thinks targeting is creepy, but at the end of the day they don't care that much.
I disagree that the media has done anywhere near its best to bring privacy issues to people's attention. At the same time, many stories that do get published offer lots of vague scares and no practical suggestions, which fuels people's sense that there's nothing they can do.
I don't know many people who have stopped using Facebook. I do know a lot of people who don't post things they would've 5 years ago.
Uber miscalculated, simple as that.
For targeting, I'm talking more about direct advertising. I think most people know by now that the sites they visit don't directly control the ads they see. Seeing the same ads everywhere is annoying but doesn't prove anything. A company you've never given your email address sending you offers for only items you looked at is creepy.
