The Path to Restoring Trust in a Connected World

Mark Weinstein is a successful tech entrepreneur, board member, and consultant, and one of the visionary inventors of social networking. He is the author of Restoring Our Sanity Online (Wiley, 2025), a book endorsed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Steve Wozniak. Mark is the Founder of MeWe, the first social network with a Privacy Bill of Rights, which grew to over 20 million members. He also founded SuperFamily.com and SuperFriends.com, early social networks recognized by PC Magazine as "Top 100" sites.

He is an inventor of 15 groundbreaking digital advertising patents. Mark has delivered the landmark TED Talk, "The Rise of Surveillance Capitalism." He is frequently interviewed and published in major media outlets around the world.

Beyond his entrepreneurial achievements, Mark has chaired the New Mexico Accountancy Board and served as an Adjunct Marketing Professor at the University of New Mexico. He holds an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

In this episode…

The internet began as a way to connect family, friends, and communities. Over time, platforms shifted towards surveillance capitalism, where users' personal information can be monetized and people can be targeted and even manipulated. Social media and AI now shape what people see, think, and buy, while algorithms quietly learn how to influence our choices. As technology advances, how can companies and individuals alike protect privacy and rebuild trust in the systems that connect us? 

As one of the pioneers of social networking, Mark Weinstein has seen this transformation firsthand. Early models were built around community and connection, while later models monetized personal information for targeting and profit. The next phase focuses on stronger privacy controls, data portability, and user choice. Building safer digital experiences means companies need to avoid unnecessary data collection and manipulative design tactics, and to communicate transparently about how personal information is used and shared. Individuals can also play a role by supporting user ID verification to make social media safer and by teaching children critical thinking skills to help them combat misinformation and manipulation online.

In this episode of She Said Privacy/He Said Security, Jodi and Justin Daniels chat with Mark Weinstein, tech entrepreneur, author, board member, and consultant, about rethinking privacy and control in the digital age. Mark reflects on the lessons learned from early social network models and discusses the evolution of the internet from connection-driven communities to surveillance capitalism, explaining how current models exploit user data. He explores his vision for Web4 and its new approach centered on data ownership and portability. He also offers practical advice for protecting children from online harms and the importance of fostering critical thinking in the age of AI.