[smcl]

You are sometimes the product when you buy something, but it's not a necessary part of that model.

You are always the product in "free" services like FB, YouTube. It is a fundamental part of that model.

There are plenty of shitty companies in both buckets (and seemingly more as time goes by) but let's not pretend there's never a difference.

[chopin]

I'd be happy to see such a counter example. If something can phone home, it will. I've yet to see a purchasing site (= I am the customer) which does not share data with third parties, for example.

[smcl]

How about Fastmail or Posthaven?