It was kind of fair, though. You got access to a platform that costs money to run; in return, you provide some data about yourself. They use this data to sell you relevant ads, ad companies reach the right audience, and everyone wins. As time passed, data collection became more advanced and intrusive, profits increased, while your side of the deal stayed the same. This model was so profitable that it ended up being implemented everywhere — from social media and online newspapers, to TVs that run ads in their menus. And, as it turns out, even in flight tracking. I will come back to this last one in a minute.
