A friend first told me about a company called Cambridge Analytica a week after Donald Trump’s election.

He said they were a data company that helped political campaigns produce highly precision-targeted Facebook ads. They’d worked on both the Trump campaign and the Leave campaign.

I wasn’t in the slightest bit shocked, then. If I’m honest, I can’t work out if I am meant to be shocked, now.

It certainly appears that lines have been crossed, duties of care breached. Data has perhaps not been sufficiently protected by Facebook. A company may have acquired data about Facebook users under one pretext, and then sold it on to another with an intention to use it rather differently. Cambridge Analytica appears to have Facebook data on people who have not agreed to share it with them.

But, to the very best of my knowledge and understanding, Cambridge Analytica, or indeed any company like them, cannot have access to any data on any person, which that person has not willingly shared both with one of the world’s largest corporations (Facebook itself), and usually with several hundred other people (their Facebook friends).

If you wish to play a game on Facebook that involves something as mundane as guessing the capitals of the world, it is readily apparent the price you pay to do so is handing over your personal information.

Like many tragic men of a certain age, about 18 months ago I bought an Amazon Alexa (I assume there are many tragic women too, but I don’t know any), an indulgence which has, for no reasons beyond my own fundamental patheticness, extended itself into all manner of smart home gadgets. Light bulbs, thermostats, ridiculous little buttons, etc.

In that 18 months, I have noticed myself constantly pausing on Facebook ad videos selling products that they have somehow worked out I am pathetic enough to be interested in.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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The area in Beirut suffered extensive damage from the explosion at the seaport AP World news in pictures 5 August 2020 Damage at the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon Reuters World news in pictures 4 August 2020 A large explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The blast, which rattled entire buildings and broke glass, was felt in several parts of the city AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 August 2020 A general view shows the new road bridge in Genoa, Italy ahead of its official inauguration, after it was rebuilt following its collapse on August 14, 2018 which killed 43 people Reuters World news in pictures 2 August 2020 Empty stall spaces are seen hours before a citywide curfew is introduced in Melbourne, Australia EPA World news in pictures 1 August 2020 People take part in a demonstration by the initiative "Querdenken-711" with the slogan "the end of the pandemic - the day of freedom" to protest against the current measurements to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 July 2020 Pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand mosque in Mecca. Muslim pilgrims converged today on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the climax of this year's hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP World news in pictures 30 July 2020 The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission lifts off at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The mission is part of the USA's largest moon to Mars exploration. Nasa will attempt to establish a sustained human presence on and around the moon by 2028 through their Artemis programme EPA World news in pictures 29 July 2020 A woman refreshes herself in a outdoor pool in summer temperatures in Ehingen, Germany dpa via AP World news in pictures 28 July 2020 Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak speaks to the media after he was found guilty in his corruption trial in Kuala Lumpur AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 July 2020 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for a photograph after conferring commemorative pistols to leading commanding officers of the armed forces on the 67th anniversary of the "Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War". Which marks the signing of the Korean War armistice KCNA via Reuters

For a little while, I cared a bit that some algorithm knew my interests – not least as some algorithm was on to the fact that I had become an unconscionable loser.

But I decided it was no greater moral breach than the targeted adverts for walk-in baths and life insurance plans with free parker pens that cram the ad breaks on Countdown.

As new technologies come, those with products to sell will always find the best way to get those products in front of the most susceptible eyeballs. Capitalism has always been thus. Indeed if it was not, it wouldn’t be capitalism at all.

Political campaigning has always been identical. No moral line is crossed when a would be President or Prime Minister goes to a swing state or marginal constituency and hones in on local issues.

And in the end, the only facet of your life that Cambridge Analytica has power of influence over are the ads you see on your Facebook feed.

There are separate but related questions – for example, concerning Facebook’s Newsfeed algorithm, which rewards engaging content, tempting political parties to produce ever more sensationalist material, realigning people in the information age into a guard of honour for demagogues like Donald Trump to walk down.

But the underlying principles have surely not changed. Show me the last election, at least in the UK or the US, that was not won by the more charismatic candidate? Where getting people’s attention was not the heart and soul of the matter?

In the Presidential debates in 2016, Donald Trump made a large number of wild and utterly false claims. Hillary Clinton answered with such phrases as, “I think the fact checkers are going to have fun with that one.” It is the sort of answer that intimates at a life spent so deep in the political bubble that one wonders if she had ever come up for air.

People have almost entirely forgotten that, say, in 2015, when the BBC hosted its first hustings in the Labour leadership contest in a church in Nuneaton, some hitherto unknown man called Jeremy Corbyn was the only one who had anything of any interest to say. Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall were beyond abysmal, and they remained so throughout the contest.

Cambridge Analytica: Chris Wylie tells Channel 4 News data for 50 million Facebook profiles was obtained

Is it acceptable to wonder if the fire is only being turned on technology because it hasn’t delivered the results the bulk of the media class wanted? If the Democrats had delivered a candidate better equipped to deal with the shallowness of the media age, and if the Remain campaign had been run as well as the Leave one, this apparently existential crisis would not be occurring.

When two seismic but extremely close results appear to change the world, any number of factors can be viewed as decisive. It is so very easy to forget – we are only talking about ads on Facebook.

Liberal newspapers and the like appear terrified that the rise of Facebook means liberal newspapers have lost control of the national conversation. That, through the power of the web, the idiots in every village have all found one another, and together through the self re-enforcing power of their own editorially unscrutinised information, they suddenly have critical mass enough to march the world over the cliff.

There appears generalised despair in the media at the end of what it imagines to be some sort of golden age, when the political class was kept in check by the media class. When the national conversation was set by those with the cash to set its terms. Horizontal democracy played second fiddle to vertical democracy. Where everyone has the right to speak, but only those with money have a right to be heard.

When I was 18 years old, I worked behind the bar of a pub in which the regulars all worked at the Dagenham Ford factory, and most of them had to hand in their passports during England away matches. The conversations were drivel. Endless drivel. The opinions were outrageous. The facts were utter garbage.

I often wonder whether the “crisis” is merely that by virtue of being addicted to Twitter, the mainly middle-class media is horrified not by a new problem, but because a very old one has suddenly wandered on to its horizons.

Back then, I think it is reasonable to say, The Sun sold far more copies and it contained stories that were palpably absurd, which it would never get away with now. There has always been fake news, and there has always been a willing and malleable audience for it. It’s just that it’s consumers weren’t spending their evenings arguing via their smartphones with a lot of people who were hitherto all but unaware of their existence.