Consent

Anil Dash usually makes me think, and his recent essay on Internet consent points out the lack of consent in the online world. You have the illusion of consent in the sense that pop-ups come on the screen and ask if you agree to cookies, but there are still thousands upon thousands of times when your data is compiled and used and sold without understanding that by using or buying or entering spaces, you’ve technically (but usually unknowingly) consented to this situation.

He points out that in the beginning,

It was so broadly understood that you would respect the visitors to your site that you didn’t even have to ask their permission because there would be a massive user uproar if you were to do something so hostile as to surveil them or track them.

And then, of course, everything changed. His example about how your data is tracked and sold feels even more absurd when you consider his example: It would be as if a restaurateur wrote down everything you said while you ate your meal and sold it to another store. It has nothing to do with the food. It has everything to do with using the consumer.

Go read the whole thing.