[judge2020]

> 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.

[matheusmoreira]

> 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.

[rrix2]

>> 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.

[kevin_thibedeau]

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