A US Senator has proposed a new bill that would require “serious punishments” for any company that is found to have misused private consumer data. this would include years of jail time and is punctuated by headlines that claim that *if* this bill had been in effect back then, Mark Zuckerberg would be cooling his heels in a cushy Federal Pen working on his backhand.

Now look, maybe it’s our obsession with dystopian science fiction futures that makes us sensitive to these kinds of things, but the unvarnished truth is that nobody is going to jail for this, because, at the end of the day, this is what Social Media/Internet companies do – they sell advertising. just like TV or Radio. And it is nothing new.

Just like the Salem Witch hunts it’s just piling on a populist idea that will get a few headlines and some fundraising for a politician, but actually accomplish anything? Not a chance.