this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 240 points 7 months ago (4 children)

arguing that it’s not real consent if the only alternative is shelling out yet another monthly subscription fee

Very true, and hopefully many other verdicts will follow, like "It’s not real consent if....this or that.

This dark pattern has started to spread everywhere already.

[–] [email protected] 117 points 7 months ago (3 children)

It's not consent if there are fifty pages of legalese to read before you press accept.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I’m a big fan of TOSDR and recommend everyone check it out. It’s a site dedicated to translating TOS and EULA into English by attorneys working pro-bono. It’s amazing what you’ll find in some of those agreements.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

I’m a big fan of TOSDR and recommend everyone check it out.

I did not know this existed, thank you!

You waive your moral rights ...

Except to the extent that any such waiver is prohibited by law, you hereby waive the benefit of any provision of law known as "moral rights" or "droit moral" or any similar law in any country of the world.

Wow, I didn't even know it was possible to waive our moral rights, some heavy shit right there.

And I had to lol when I saw it was coming from Blizzard of all places.

Edit: It's actually a different kind of morals, not in the general public sense (Right vs Wrong) definition that we all know.

Still seems immoral though, controlling someone else's work, as if it is your own, so thoroughly.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I'm guessing that's not enforceable per much anywhere, hence the "unless prohibited by law" part. But they stick it in there so they can scare you into giving up a legal fight. Most terms of service are throwing crap at the wall and seeing what sticks.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I’m a big fan of TOSDR and recommend everyone check it out.

Also, you really should make a separate post about this, to bring awareness more widely.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago

fifty

I can hear PayPal giggling

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

There's a core tenet in EU consumer protection law that if clauses aren't clear enough to understand by laymen, they can be challenged.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Curious how they expect this to work for people who aren't even "paying" [with money or data] Meta users. Those people who never signed up for any of their services yet are still being tracked across websites via those social sharing buttons and the like. Are they supposed to pay Meta to not hoard their data from all the other websites, despite never setting foot on a Meta site?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Those people who never signed up for any of their services yet are still being tracked across websites via those social sharing buttons and the like

It is plain illegal what META is doing there. They just haven't been dragged to court so far.

But with these buttons, the websites which includes them are offenders, too.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago

"Nice data you got there. Be a shame if someone sold that for a premium"

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I wish they'd do that in the US for the stupid TOS nonsense they pull. I'm guessing a lot of it wouldn't hold up in court, but it's unlikely to get challenged because an individual just doesn't have the resources to do so, so it chills people into going along with it.

For example:

  • forced arbitration is on all the things now
  • Motorola's sketchy forfeiture of rights if you flash your phone's bootloader
  • "warranty stickers" - the FTC has actually cracked down a bit, but companies still try to do it

A lot of this is hidden behind dozens of pages of TOS that pretty much nobody reads. A general, "massive TOS isn't real consent" law could do wonders to improve consumer protections. Specifically, this is what I'd like to see:

  • any contract must be reasonably understood by an individual with an 8th grade education
  • contracts stay in force unless both parties agree to a change, and service may not be interrupted just because of a failure to agree to new terms
  • no forced arbitration, though private arbitration may be used if both parties consent
  • anything more than an average person can read in 5 minutes requires a formal contract, not a TOS

Or something along those lines. Consumer protections suck here, and I think this could solve a lot of the problems. Airing dirty laundry can solve a lot of problems.

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[–] Mikina 117 points 7 months ago (8 children)

What's really unhinged is the amount of resources invested into gaslighting Meta does. https://about.fb.com/news/2024/01/investing-in-privacy/

They even have a "Chief Privacy Officer". They have brainwashed entire departments into believing that Meta actually cares about privacy, it's so terrifying. I wonder if people working there realize that, or they have simply fell for the gaslighting.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Prior to joining Meta, she was a partner working on technology issues and co-chair of Covington & Burling's global data practice. Erin collaborates with policymakers and experts on Meta's products and features and is deeply involved in legislative and regulatory efforts around data protection, data portability, advertising, and Al.

E.g. ex lawyer working for a firm that ensured companies could sell and use as much data as possible and defended them if they got sued or fined. Now in charge of “Privacy,” e.g. making sure Meta can sell and use as much private data as possible. It’s literal doublespeak

[–] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, when I saw "Chief Privacy Officer", my first thought was "Ministry of Truth", "Ministry of Peace", etc.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago

McDonalds sells salads too

[–] [email protected] 21 points 7 months ago (6 children)

They probably don't care as long as they get paid so they can live and survive in this boring dystopia

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[–] Isoprenoid 10 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I wonder if people working there realize that, or they have simply fell for the gaslighting.

Or they're just like everyone else and are desperate for money to live so they sell their souls.

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[–] [email protected] 106 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Please pull out of EU, it will be so much easier to convince more of my family to use signal.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

They keep throwing around threats of leaving.

Do it... do it you absolute chickens.

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 7 months ago (5 children)

Leaving the EU could be an option.

[–] [email protected] 134 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Meta seemed to think that was a threat that would get the EU to cave to their demands and the regulators’ response was basically

Willy Wonka sarcastically saying, “Stop. Don’t. Come back.”

[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago

Chad EU vs virgin meta

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Following the laws another.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

lol tell us another one

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Wouldn't that be a treat!

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Say one decides to pay...what guarantees do I get that my data won't be used or that I won't get targeted?

[–] [email protected] 95 points 7 months ago

Trust me bro

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago

Good luck proving that your data came from meta sources after you paid.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This is great!

I wonder how many € I can rent an EU citizenship for ;-)

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's not about EU citizenship but if you are actually living in the EU.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago

My VPN says I do

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago

Is cutting his hair an option? If he needs, I have a device that uses gravity to chop things...

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago

Good news, that’s one point where the EU takes good decisions. Sadly, fight against privacy in terms of anti money laundering rules and similar

[–] Mikina 24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Max Schrems, the Austrian activist lawyer whose 13-year legal crusade against Meta is what gradually removed those options

I wonder, does anyone know how would one go about acomplishing something like this? One of major websites here in Czech, and a major search engine, has started doing exactly the same thing - pay or agree. And I really don't like that. Are there organizations you can contact, or do you have to have the resources to just sue them?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

You should search for something like "data protection office" in Czech language, they likely have tips on how to lodge a complaint.

edit: should be a good website: https://uoou.gov.cz/en/consultation/contact

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

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