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by matheusmoreira 2234 days ago
Being a user of free applications and services does not automatically give corporations the right to exploit people by collecting and selling their personal information without consent.

Ironically, the data of paying customers is even more valuable. Spending money on these things is probably a great way to make them pay even more attention to you. For example, mobile game companies seem to know everything about their big spenders and I've read that some are in direct contact with those players.
1 comments
judge2020 2234 days ago
> without consent.

that's the point, they "gave consent" via the terms and conditions checkbox, and this is upheld in court since the user knew they were getting the service for free. Few countries have kept up with their laws to protect consumers from this.

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matheusmoreira 2234 days ago
> Few countries have kept up with their laws to protect consumers from this.

Seems to be a US thing. Apparently people can give up their rights and consumer protections by agreeing to a contract. Naturally, these "you agree to not exercise your rights" clauses have become standard in privacy policies and terms of service. In many other countries, a judge would simply invalidate the abusive clause.

Very few people are going to take this to court though. Regulators need to establish rules and proactively enforce compliance in order to bring about change.

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rrix2 2234 days ago
>> Few countries have kept up with their laws to protect consumers from this.

> Seems to be a US thing.

This article was written about data collected in Norway by a data broker based in the UK.

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kevin_thibedeau 2234 days ago
The US has no meaningful consumer protections to give up. Abusive agreements don't make things appreciably worse.
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