It doesn't really matter whether you or I agree with that position. The point is that the GDPR doesn't agree with that position -- and that has been made explic

It doesn't really matter whether you or I agree with that position. The point is that the GDPR doesn't agree with that position -- and that has been made explicitly in the regulation: https://www.gdpreu.org/the-regulation/key-concepts/legitimate-interest/ https://www.gdpreu.org/the-regulation/key-concepts/legitimat... Even when data processing is necessary to the controller, such legitimate interests must be weighed against “the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject”. Should data controllers justify processing without consent based on this subparagraph, they will need to be prepared to prove legitimate interests (a higher burden) relative to the implied general interests of data subjects. So businesses will need to argue that their interest (income) outweighs the interests of their users (not to be sold out). Specifically, when it comes to advertising itself as a legimate interest: Where personal data are processed for the purposes of direct marketing, the data subject should have the right to object to such processing, including profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing, whether with regard to initial or further processing, at any time and free of charge. That right should be explicitly brought to the attention of the data subject and presented clearly and separately from any other information.