zlacker

>>_bxg1+(OP)
Tech products starts this way but eventually they need to make profit and then ads take over the product. The only way this works is for paid products.

>>gandut+AP
Even paid products or services are not immune.

I order a pizza, I have no choice but to provide details since they need them for delivery. Guess what happens next? Yeah, e-mail and SMS spam.

I pay hundreds of bucks for a complete Tado system (thermostat, radiator valves, etc). Guess what I get? E-mail spam about discounts for their "new" app which actually has less features than the current one.

I buy a PS4 and try to set it up. Even for a few hundred bucks for a new console, there is still bullshit telemetry and other crap I need to opt-out of, not to mention some half-assed attempt at a social network where I have to spend 15 minutes setting everything to "No one can see this" so I can regain some privacy because I have no desire to use the social features.

Heck, even some US government agencies (DMV I think) sell your data to scum and you can't even opt out.

I can go on and on. We need some actual ethics, and regulation as a fail-safe for cases where the former doesn't work.

>>Nextgr+pQ
> I can go on and on. We need some actual ethics, and regulation as a fail-safe for cases where the former doesn't work.

Or become an EU resident and use their brilliant data-handling privacy laws

>>tomcoo+0S
I am in Europe and the GDPR is a joke. You are supposed to first complain to the company itself, give them a month to reply with a satisfactory response, and if not, then escalate to the country's privacy regulator which seems to do absolutely nothing according to my experience.

Can you imagine doing all these things every time your privacy is violated (every non-compliant cookie banner, tracker, newsletter, etc)? That would be a full-time job. It's almost like "justice" in the US, in theory you can win, in practice you have no chance unless you have billions to pay lawyers to fight decade-long legal battles on your behalf.

>>Nextgr+nS
GDPR did a lot through fear alone. Companies really stepped up their game. At least the small and medium ones. The big ones knew that laws are only laws if they are enforced and that it's going to take "a while" for that to happen, and it will probably happen only partially. But the most important part was that now people have an increased expectation of privacy (even if it's still lower than even what GDPR prescribes in most cases).

But GDPR is just the 2nd step. The 3rd is the e-privacy regulation that is coming, hopefully in this mandate.