Do people really want to give up privacy to companies for free usage of their products and entertainment?

People at large don't seem to care all that much it seems because these companies gather an absurd amount of personal data. I doubt anyone does it without getting something in return but plenty are happy to do so if there is some benefit, however small, to them.

When I used to work for a UK retail chain I sat in on the till training once or twice. The company, rather typically, had a discount card that required an e-mail address, address and other basic personal information, which many were happy to give. The till staff were trained to ask whether the customer wanted to receive offers, vouchers from themselves and 'partners' etc. and there was a check box on the tills to say whether they consented. The till staff were judged by how many people they roped into the scheme and they were reprimanded if they failed to do so.

The person doing the training actually told the till staff to check the checkbox regardless of the customer's wishes, completely in contradiction to the data protection laws here. I mentioned this to the people in charge and they didn't care, they wanted to be able to use/collect that data even if they had to break the law to do so. Data is big money and many companies will take it with or without your consent if at all possible.

I didn't work for them for long after that and I'll never work for them again on principle but I'm quite sure they aren't the only ones to take such liberties.

The counter, and just as easy to spin up publicity is, "Apple is snitching everything you do to the government." There's a bad side to each viewpoint.

The fact is humans are wired to share information -that is a survival mechanism. We are constantly trading information or attention for the 8 needs. (food, water, clothing, shelter, love/companionship, sanitation, education, and physical care).

We're at the point where our privacy is being exchanged for the better of the nation's health. Apps for contact tracing and such. It doesn't bother me.

Jeez. This is all levels of wrong. Good on you. Kinda makes you think. Its like the old saying. either i do the bad deed or they fire me and get someone who will. The world will eb inflow under our noses or in front of whether we like it or not. Bully stuff. Makes you also wonder why companies even bother saving face when they all just skeez (i guess some not all and that's why). Thanks so much. The douches who said just check it sound like gamestop managers. I'll make sure I write fake emails like I have for years. XD

@someoneproud: I worked at an entertainment store that did exactly what you're describing. On top of the discount cards, we were also supposed to sell magazine subscriptions, which was a separate form that had to be filled out on the computer. I remember a manager telling us that if the customer accepted the discount card, but declined the magazine subscriptions, we should pretend that the system crashed and we had to get their info for the discount card again, but fill out the magazine subscription form and just pick some random magazines for them.

Super sketch, but I'm sure it's not uncommon.

@topcyclist: I worked for a different department but they had a push to get everyone trained in case of 'emergencies' so nobody was really expecting me to do that stuff and I told them in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't just check the box if they did need me at the front of store. There was never any real risk of me getting fired for it but the pressure on the people in those positions to tow their crooked line was very real.

Really I just didn't want to contribute to the successes of a company I couldn't respect and was lucky enough to have other offers, so I bailed. I did make sure to mention in my resignation letter that my problems were with the company policy at large and not with the folk working there who were good to me and just trying to get by in a shitty company.

Some lady came down from HQ the next day and gave me some seriously scathing looks whilst walking around with the store manager, which was a little satisfying to me tbh. Fake emails/typos are a good shout, don't have to potentially risk your job or invade anyone's privacy.

@zombiepenguin9: Yeah, I've heard from a lot of people in retail that are expected to do similar, a little shocking how many companies think this shit's okay or just don't care that it's not.

@someoneproud: I used to work in an electronics retail chain and we got told to do this. On top of that, if someone wanted a refund we had to get their email address. And so because we had their email address, we where made to sign them up for newsletters.

@jesus_phish: It would seem everyone's at it in one form or another. Did you ever get people insisting on a refund without giving an email address? I feel that's what I'd have done in their shoes, although I hardly ever return anything tbh.

As I understand it in the UK (I don't know about consumer protections elsewhere) they would be entitled to a refund with just a proof of purchase so long as the item was mis-sold and/or unfit for purpose and the seller would be legally required to comply.

I'm pretty sure there's no legal obligation to inform the customer of this however, so I could see them easily tricking them into handing details over, which also feels pretty damn shitty to me.

@someoneproud: Yeah some people would refuse. If someone refused I just put down a fake email address and said that's what the customer told me. Legally we couldn't require that information of them, but you'd be surprised how many people just went along with it. Before emails, I remember being asked for my home address when I tried to get a refund on things.

I find this stuff weird since we've all been doing this for the past 15-20 years now. As connectivity increases, privacy decreases. I used to worry about that stuff, but then realized all my data worth anything has been out there since online ads have been a thing lol.