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by landemva 1072 days ago
>> Then set a price.

How about a cell phone service that would not sell any location data connected to you or your phone usage. Would you be willing to pay over $200/month or less? What would you pay?

I recognize some folks want privacy at no cost to them.

2 comments

As far as I can tell, $200/month is ridiculous compared to competitors. If I knew how to enforce "don't be a jerk and clearly overcharge" in law, I'd lay it out right here. It would be fair to require a moderate premium for legitimate privacy-upholding reasons.
Depending on what premium you are willing to pay, there might be a sustainable business. But privacy and cheap probably won't be a sustainable business.

If you think you can force it by law, then choose a good jurisdiction for that strong-arming.

To create a new business that aims for respecting user privacy, it is indeed a daunting task. However, it is just as well if the likes of Google are made to respect privacy; they won't be worse off in the long run anyways. There could be evaluations after a year or two to see how much really changes. There should be strict measures that enforce privacy-conscious business models and prevent companies from unreasonably retaliating.

On a more general note, it's ridiculous that the status quo is so entrenched to the point where discussions about privacy often feature doomerism and cynicism ad nauseum, as this thread shows. For all the hubbub (in the US, at least) about human rights, about justice, about democracy (however misguided some of these pleas may be), there is a sickening lack of attention when it comes to privacy. When you realize you live in a backwards (literally? figuratively?) world, do you point it out? Will the others merely laugh at you? Is your vision of something different just a worthless hope? I, for one, fervently wish that more people become antagonistic to the idea that privacy is meaningless or not worth fighting for.

I am already paying the TSP for it's service and providing the data for it's functioning. So what right does it have to share it or use it without my permission for some different business purpose? Just like the other comment that if I share my data with bank, it is for providing banking service. The bank cannot turn around and use it for some different business purposes.

We are not talking about the free service providers like google or meta, right?