Re: Shocked?
@Filippo
"Some of it is entitlement, but most of it is just that most people don't realize how much data about them Meta collects, or how valuable it is, or how harmful targeted advertising can be."
How valuable is it? Barely over 30 cent per person? I am not sure how harmful targeted advertising is, first it isnt particularly good and second it is an extension of the targeting when people buy magazines/newspapers.
"There is also the problem that there are services that should have nothing to do with Meta, but in practice rely on Meta as an infrastructure, effectively forcing you to have a Meta account in order to interact with them. For example, some small businesses only publish fresh information on Facebook and leave their website to neglect; also, way too many people and businesses rely on WhatsApp; local schools use Meta services for students, teachers and parents; and so on, and so forth."
I would suggest that the latter disproves your starting premise. You say these services have nothing to do with meta except then they rely on meta as the platform to provide the service. You may dislike that they rely on meta but these services obviously rely on meta.
"This is not technically Meta's fault, but it's also not the end users' fault, and it's excessively difficult to convince a school that they should not use WhatsApp groups. Because, see above, they don't know how harmful unchecked data collection is."
And the parents can refuse to use it. And if they miss out that is the price of the individuals freedom to choose not to use something. You can try to educate the school (I would agree with you) but it is quick and easy and provides the infrastructure the school needs and frees up the schools time and resources for other things.