> What power does any single refrigerator company have over me? It doesn't have to be a single company per se - all the companies could hold power over you at

> What power does any single refrigerator company have over me? It doesn't have to be a single company per se - all the companies could hold power over you at the same time. E.g. if most huge refrigerator companies agree (explicitly or implicitly) to all include "smart" features that violate the customers' privacy, then the refrigerator companies hold power over you - you can't buy a refrigerator without "smart" features, as there aren't any on the market. You can ask for a "dumb" refrigerator, but ultimately you aren't the one making the refrigerators, so you don't make the decisions. Perhaps some other company will join in, and try to fill in the niche of "dumb" refrigerators, but they will either not have the resources/connections of the already-established companies, or their efforts will be undermined by the already-established companies in order to keep their power, or they might even succeed but have their refrigerators so expensive that privacy-seeking people have to pay premium in order to get it.