"There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some Exchange Students  in the class. One day while the class was in the lab  the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his  back and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to  overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, "Do you know how to catch wild  pigs?"
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.

The  young man said this was no joke. "You catch wild pigs by finding a  suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find  it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used  to coming every day, you put a Fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to  eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd." http://www.squidoo.com/howtocatchapig

This story refers to a government's slide into communism, but is it too far-fecthced to describe what is happening with consumer privacy?  Perhaps this is a bit extreme, but then again, we are in uncharted territory.   

It seems that in this day and age, we find ourselves in a bit of a conundrum:

We freely give up our privacy to companies whose desire to profit in return for a service, which is often free and "beneficial" to us.

This creates a conflict of interests.  In order for us as the consumer to receive services that we desire, we must give up personal information.  This can include some services we desire, such letting netflix record movies we enjoy watching in order to provide selected related movies that the also might enjoy.  However, as seen in recent events, this "anonymous" data can actually be linked back to a specific person using de-anonymizing algorithms.

There are also companies that use our information in ways we may not approve of.  However, we still freely give these companies personal information.  In example, we observe how Google Ads uses our search data and website history to "better serve" us with advertisements that better suit our interests.  This is a clear example of how a company lures you in with a free service in order to profit off of the information they receive from the use of the service.

As long as free services, such as web searches and internet browsers are available, the companies will always have the desire to collect and profit of of user's personal data.  I see in the future an increase in company's hands reaching into our personal lives.  As long as the free feed is out there for the taking, we will continue you be fenced in.