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> Most users are somewhat ok with selling their data in exchange for free services. I think you're incorrect. I think most users recognize that they usually do

> Most users are somewhat ok with selling their data in exchange for free services. I think you're incorrect. I think most users recognize that they usually don't have a choice: they don't have money to provide for services that they need, so they are _forced_ to use services that are cheaper or free. And I think most users feel helpless to do anything about it because most politicians actively ignore them (because they're poor) or work against them (because not-poor businesses pay politicians), and also because most businesses providing free service do not provide any useful mechanism for human interaction. Ever have trouble with a free service? Your only recourse is to go on social media and complain and hope to catch enough public attention such that someone who works at the company will reply. And even then you're not guaranteed a resolution to your issue.

mffnbs 7y ago
I think you're underestimating the average non-tech oriented user that simply uses. A lot of those considerations might be true for users conscious about data collection, but I'd imagine that's a very small subset of users.
- inetknght 7y ago
  > I think you're underestimating the average non-tech oriented user that simply uses. While I certainly think it's possible, it doesn't echo with my personal anecdotes of friends and family. They all fit in with "I don't want to be tracked but I'm helpless to stop it!" crowd. All of my family, most of my friends.
sbov 7y ago
There's plenty of similarly priced alternatives out there that aren't as abusive as the big ad companies. The problem isn't just that poor people are money poor. It's that they're also time poor. They're too busy making ends meet to care about this stuff. That Google collects so much of their data would probably not even be on their list of things to care about.

mffnbs 7y ago

I think you're underestimating the average non-tech oriented user that simply uses. A lot of those considerations might be true for users conscious about data collection, but I'd imagine that's a very small subset of users.

inetknght 7y ago
> I think you're underestimating the average non-tech oriented user that simply uses. While I certainly think it's possible, it doesn't echo with my personal anecdotes of friends and family. They all fit in with "I don't want to be tracked but I'm helpless to stop it!" crowd. All of my family, most of my friends.

sbov 7y ago

There's plenty of similarly priced alternatives out there that aren't as abusive as the big ad companies. The problem isn't just that poor people are money poor. It's that they're also time poor. They're too busy making ends meet to care about this stuff. That Google collects so much of their data would probably not even be on their list of things to care about.