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Ignoring the many exceptions to that statement, companies charge me my data because it makes them more money than if I paid directly. To the extent that compani

Ignoring the many exceptions to that statement, companies charge me my data because it makes them more money than if I paid directly. To the extent that companies need to do that, it is only because every other company of the same class operates that way too. Regardless, there already are paywalls and credit card forms everywhere and it doesn’t stop my data from being collected and sold. Even when I purchase physical goods online it is tracked and sold. Even when I use physical goods that I paid for with cash I am tracked with that good and the data is sold. Even companies with which I have not even an implied contract have profiles of me.

mensetmanusman 2y ago
We don’t know how to build a system where people subscribe to the entire internet.
- cgriswald 2y ago
  The greatest barrier to your non sequitur isn’t technological. We know how to advertise without ubiquitous privacy violations and theft of personal data if a site must be “free” and support itself through advertisements.
  - mensetmanusman 2y ago
    We know how to do that for paper, but many websites barely get by with directed ads, which are 10x more valuable than random ads. I doubt the web would be useful with 10x more ads to maintain revenue neutrality.
    - cgriswald 2y ago
      Targeted ads have famously led to less blog spam and SEO shenanigans, and a more useful web… You said this stuff built the web but the web existed before the wholesale harvesting and sale of personal data. Businesses which rely solely on personal data as a revenue stream would have to change their model. Businesses which rely on advertising which does so would have to change as well. No one advertises “randomly”. Yes, non-targeted ads are less valuable than personally targeted ads. That’s sort of how that whole bit works. So? This idea that there are parts of the web that are so useful but can somehow only be funded with 24/7 surveillance is absurd.

mensetmanusman 2y ago

We don’t know how to build a system where people subscribe to the entire internet.

cgriswald 2y ago
The greatest barrier to your non sequitur isn’t technological. We know how to advertise without ubiquitous privacy violations and theft of personal data if a site must be “free” and support itself through advertisements.
- mensetmanusman 2y ago
  We know how to do that for paper, but many websites barely get by with directed ads, which are 10x more valuable than random ads. I doubt the web would be useful with 10x more ads to maintain revenue neutrality.
  - cgriswald 2y ago
    Targeted ads have famously led to less blog spam and SEO shenanigans, and a more useful web… You said this stuff built the web but the web existed before the wholesale harvesting and sale of personal data. Businesses which rely solely on personal data as a revenue stream would have to change their model. Businesses which rely on advertising which does so would have to change as well. No one advertises “randomly”. Yes, non-targeted ads are less valuable than personally targeted ads. That’s sort of how that whole bit works. So? This idea that there are parts of the web that are so useful but can somehow only be funded with 24/7 surveillance is absurd.