Silicon Valley surely is unrivaled in the American economy in its claims to “serve mankind.” So much so, in fact, that the satirical TV show Silicon Valley has a running joke that whenever a start-up founder is introduced, no matter how absurdly technical his project may be, he assures the audience that he is committed to “making the world a better place.” Paxos algorithms for consensus protocols … making the world a better place.

Minimal message-oriented transport layers … making the world a better place. Yet strip away the satire, and you find that Google works from the same playbook. The company assures us that it collects and stores so much personal information about its users to better serve them.

That way, Google sites can remember what language you speak, identify which of your friends are online, suggest new videos to watch, and be sure to display only the advertisements “you’ll find most useful.” Even when Google is being paid by businesses to show you ads, it’s really thinking about making your life better!

Facebook similarly insists that it acts in the best interest of humanity, no matter how its actions may be perceived. For example, there is the Free Basics project, which provides a Facebook-centric version of the Internet for cell phone users who cannot afford access to the actual Internet. Critics in India objected to Facebook’s apparent largesse, seeing the program as pushing a ghettoized, fake-Internet experience for poor people merely to keep its audience growing.