[bulatb]

> If you don't want to sign, they won't do business with you.

That's illegal. Consent to processing can not be a prerequisite for service. [0] (Otherwise GDPR would have no power, even in theory.)

If the processing is so important that service cannot be provided without it, or wouldn't be legal to offer, it's covered under Art. 6(1)(b), (c), or (f): performance of a contract, legal obligation, or legitimate interest of the business. Consent—Art. 6(1)(a)—is what you use when you just want the data but don't actually require it to offer the service.

Saying "Sign consent or go away" is saying "We could serve you without this, but we want it, so we're lying and saying we can't."

It seems like almost everyone has chosen this weird malicious non-compliance (maximum annoyance but without the compliance) as their GDPR strategy.

Maybe lawyers found a way to claim that left is right and up is down.

[0] Art. 7(4): https://gdpr-info.eu/art-7-gdpr/