More responses to our Prying Eyes series are filtering through (no pun intended) but the issue of tech moguls also got a look in. In particular, the question of how to hold these extremely wealthy leaders to account. 

On personal cybersecurity

James Burke writes: Couple of quibbles with Angus Hervey’s tips on personal cybersecurity. First, I don’t mind being advertised at if it keeps my favourite media alive. You know when I used to let advertising into my home? When I bought a newspaper. Also: ads flag what the internet thinks it knows about you. Could prove handy. If all ad blockers do is block ads, they’re just another unnecessary repository for my signup data.

As for two-factor authentication, it’s more secure, short term. But it encourages scammers to intrude more intimately on your information — by stealing your mail, for example. Once they have enough background on you to carry out basic social engineering, they call your telco and port your phone number to a new SIM. Two-factor authentication now becomes your biggest weakness. While you’re dumbly prodding your phone, wondering why it’s suddenly not working, they’re lapping up the “secure” codes and accessing your online banking, email and more.

The frequently proposed solution is biometrics, a truly dystopian scenario. Your face, retinas, fingerprints and DNA are the next fat, juicy targets for replication. But it’s cheaper for corporations than employing more shopfront workers, who might have to actually meet and converse with you.

Zut Alors writes: How disappointing that the cave diver, Vernon Unsworth, didn’t sue Elon Musk for the “pedo” comment. Some elites think money buys anything, including the right to recklessly mouth off. It would be gratifying to see Musk having to pay out for this false perception.

AnotherAussieSufferer writes: The difficulty is that Mr. Zuckerberg has made so much out of the sale of personal data (the real purpose of Facebook) that no fine could serve as punishment or a deterrent. None of the problems of privacy and the abuse of private information will be solved until we make executives of the companies (and members of parliament) accountable and subject to prison sentences.