> Is it not the case that having a Facebook account, even a sparsely populated one, is incompatible with maintaining any semblance of control over your online identity, PII, privacy?
> People don't object because providing Facebook with personal data is voluntary
Yes, it's incompatible, because providing the data to Facebook can be involuntary. The existence of an account (even a shadow) means that your friends can inject data without your approval. A tag in any picture, a mention by name at any kind of event or location, or even the existence of the friend link are all pieces of data that contribute towards profiling your behavior and determining advertisements that you might respond to. This all occurs even if you yourself didn't provide any of it. (Good luck telling your friends to never tag or mention you on Facebook.)
Facebook lets you think that you can delete or undo any of the above, but you still rely solely on Facebook's ethics as to whether they actually cease using the "deleted" data. The only force that can restrict Facebook from keeping and using such data is legislation, and that and its implications would probably be a greater evil.
> People don't object because providing Facebook with personal data is voluntary
Yes, it's incompatible, because providing the data to Facebook can be involuntary. The existence of an account (even a shadow) means that your friends can inject data without your approval. A tag in any picture, a mention by name at any kind of event or location, or even the existence of the friend link are all pieces of data that contribute towards profiling your behavior and determining advertisements that you might respond to. This all occurs even if you yourself didn't provide any of it. (Good luck telling your friends to never tag or mention you on Facebook.)
Facebook lets you think that you can delete or undo any of the above, but you still rely solely on Facebook's ethics as to whether they actually cease using the "deleted" data. The only force that can restrict Facebook from keeping and using such data is legislation, and that and its implications would probably be a greater evil.