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posted by janrinok on Sunday June 24 2018, @11:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the got-to-start-somewhere dept.

The GDPR is now in effect. This is an attempt (mostly good) to give people control over their personal data. Specifically, companies must ask you to opt-in to data collection, and you have the right to opt-out at any time.

Of course, too many companies are trying to abuse the situation. For example, I received several notices with an "accept" option that would opt-in to more ads, newsletters or data collection than I had before. I was particularly annoyed by the new Sonos privacy policy. It states that not opting-in to their full data collection means that your Sonos products will no longer work. Which, of course, makes no sense at all - there's no reason why a loudspeaker needs to send my music listening habits to the mothership.

This is an example of a practice called "forced consent", and is explicitly forbidden by the GDPR. Max Schrems, an Austrian attorney and privacy expert, has gone to war on exactly this kind of abuse. Just minutes after the GDPR came into effect, he filed separate complaints against Google, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - all of which have similar forced-consent policies: opt-in or you cannot use their products.

Schrem's efforts are funded through noyb.eu (none of your business), which is a crowdfunded platform and organization that works for privacy rights online.


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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24 2018, @04:47PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24 2018, @04:47PM (#697625)

    "The battle is lost, and has been lost for about ten years now."

    And it's entirely thanks to people like you who have just given up. Well done.

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