[mlthoughts2018]

I disagree that it is conceptually possible for most consumers to have an adequate understanding of future implications of this technology such that they can possibly give informed consent for this type of data capture.

There are just too many ways it can eventually be used maliciously, so much so that we can’t even contemplate or imagine them ahead of time. In that case, it should be illegal for a company to capture the consumer-generated private data, much the same as age of consent laws... even if a minor appears to have a self-aware and complete understanding of something they are consenting to, it is just legally defined to be impossible for the minor to actually be capable of granting consent.

The same should be true for collecting user behavior and non-aggregated user activity data, across the board. “Consenting” to it, whether explicitly or through site usage terms or EULAs, is just not a logically possible thing.