Technology

What the article misses a bit, in my opinion, is that protection of privacy is also a protection of collective freedom - very similar to freedom of speech, or protection of one's living space from search without a warrant. Like "Saying I don't need privacy because I have nothing to hide is like saying we don't need free speech, because I have nothing to say".

This is an abstract concept, but the case of Cambridge Analytica and its interference in the UK's Brexit referendum is a great example about the enormous real consequences. (More on this in Carole Cadwalladrs "The Great British Brexit Robbery", which was for some time "de-published" (ahem) from The Guardian but you can find it in the web.)

They make it literally impossible, even if they give you settings to toggle off, they'll just introduce a new feature that comes conveniently already selected yes.

I often feel a little 'legislative paralysis'. On the one hand, I want as little government interference in the free web as possible. On the other hand we can see first hand that web anarchy collapses into web oligarchy. I guess the EU is demonstrating that targeted legislation, like one click unsubscribe or one click cookie denial, can improve the web experience and privacy even beyond their borders. Baby steps... When do we get one click delete all my data? And when does a single page start caring whether my browser sends a Do not track request or not? Until then, it's back to private privacy measures... Even if that's an uphill battle.

Yes. True. And also alternatives are nice.