[buran77]

Not sure why this is getting downvoted. Having your data confiscated like this is definitely outrageous and should be illegal. Right now we rely on this being bad PR for the company doing it but that's not enough especially for the giants. The user pays for the service by allowing the provider to monetize their data not by forfeiting the right to even get a copy.

I'm actually hoping that some regulation will be put in place to protect users and ensure that they never lose their data.

[BuckRogers]

It's because most people in my country (US) are brainwashed, supporting and voting for things against their own self-interests like groveling at the feet of entities like Google. They think the end user, like employees, should have no rights, and are lucky to have what they're given. There's no fight, because it requires less fortitude to craft a story in your mind that the dominant force and apparent way forward (corporate domination) is somehow good, to avoid having to do any real work in fighting the system. It's laziness, intellectual and physical that pervades our society. Yet many of the same people will call the French, "lazy". It's the other way around.

Prudent regulation is necessary, but a strong lobbyist group for programmers such as a union or professional association would hurry that along much faster. Developers are end users too, and would be the most likely source of such a push in today's system. Unfortunately unlike lawyers, dentists and doctors, programmers think they're too smart to get organized.