Are they really pests for demanding privacy? In today's environment?
For the longest time companies have been able to market something as 'free' when they have been the ones who have been trying to hide the fact that users' data was being sold, etc. So I would argue that if someone is 'stealing', it is actually the companies themselves.
The "stealing" is because they are trying to get companies to give their content out for free without paying the cost which requires targeted advertising (and no, generic ads pay shit which is why tons of companies are blocking all the EU because they now aren't worth the server costs).
If you're sick of people using your product and not giving anything in return, Charge. A. Fee.
The GDPR specifically forbids giving users the option of paying with data. (In that you can't deny access if the user doesn't agree to the data usage).
Charge. A. Fee.
It turns out that a whole lot of users don't want microtransactions for everything they do online, and would rather allow providers to monetize their data in exchange for access. You not liking those agreements is not a reasonable justification for forcibly banning them.
"I want to use your free service without participating in your monetization model. K thanks" -- EU citizens
"I want to use your free service and to participate in your monetization model only after you explicitly tell me how you are going to do with my data. If you can't tell me this, and get me to accept the trade off, why should I trust you?" -- EU citizens"
So it's more like "if you can't do this according to the whims of my government regulators, I'll still be using your service, AND prepare for a large fine."
My take is that consumers need to be aware of what 'free' really means for each service that advertises it. What are the real implications - not just something hidden in doublespeak in a ToS or privacy policy.
Everything spelled out in the GDPR is a great thing for users and should have been there from the very beginning - being able to erase all their data, see all their data, export their data, and get notified when data is accessed.
I hate this "empowering users" philosophy of the EU. It's reminiscent of "right to be forgotten" type regulation where EU believes users should be in control of "their" data, when it reality it isn't "theirs" to begin with. Once data is "public" you can't ever "erase" it because it's not "yours". I'm sorry, if you shoplift in my store (online or no), I'm keeping track of you no matter how much you demand that I erase "your" information.
