So you're an organ donor on Facebook – but at what cost?

Facebook's "life-saving" new feature aims to address a critical shortfall of donors by turning organ donation into an accepted social norm. People are encouraged to increase awareness of the issue by sharing, not just their donor status, but also the details around their becoming a donor along with donation stories. No doubt you will soon be able to tag your superfluous kidney in the new owner's photo albums.

In choosing to use things like Facebook and Gmail we are making the tacit (and often unconscious) statement that our personal information is a price we are willing to pay in exchange for relevant services we don't have to shell out for. What results is a massive data stock, which, when analysed, means brands can potentially understand us better than we understand ourselves. Google can serve you up ads that are frightening in their precision, US online store Target can figure out your daughter is pregnant before you do, and credit card companies are able to predict your divorce by two years. It's scary stuff. Or is it?