[6gvONxR4sf7o]

I'm with you that this isn't ideal, but as a choice between the simplest options, I think GDPR was at least an improvement. The prior status quo was 'you can bury it in the ToS in a basement across town' and led to a market where new entrants couldn't compete on more privacy friendly terms.

I'd guess that even now, just allowing a simple 'pay money or <smooth lawyery wording for happiness that incidentally eliminates privacy>' choice would just lead to the same issues again. But it's absolutely like a code smell that tells me there's a more nuanced option somewhere that could be better. However, I'm glad they didn't let perfect be the enemy of good in this case.