[mindslight]

You could pay for the software and do the same thing. But if you still have to spend so much effort making sure the publisher isn't attacking you, what obligation do you have? It's a low trust economy and thus law of the jungle. A privacy law akin to the GDPR could increase the level of trust and support straightforwardly participating in that economy. All we have right now is the dumpster fire drumbeat of whichever companies were found abusing their users this week, with vanishingly small reason to not keep doing it once they're out of the limelight.