If following the basic principles laid out in GDPR is too much of a hassle for you, you should probably not be in business anyway. It's not rocket science.
Even if it would scare me (it really doesn't), as an EU citizen I would care about surveillance by the EU, not by the US.
> Imagine someone following you everywhere in the real world, even getting into your apartment and noting down everything you do.
To do what? Collect a lot of useless information? I would bother me if someone I know does it. I don't care if some abstract entity in a different country thousands of miles away does it.
To force you into buying something you don't need, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalism. Also, to obtain your commercial secrets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance#Purposes.
No one can force you to do anything.
Do you consider yourself above other people and some sort of arbiter for their decisions?
People should have the freedom to choose who they listen to though, instead of others deciding for them.
Everyone thinks that they are resistant to advertising, yet it somehow works. It's called "wishful thinking", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_advertising#Influ....
> And let's not forget a company still has to create a compelling product
Not necessarily: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_advertising#Media...
In fact, that's why Facebook ran secret psychological experiments on unwilling participants by modifying their timeline! Because they can't force you to do anything.
US-based websites can which would simply mean privacy-respecting EU-based competitors will take their place.
Can you give me an example of a company that actually wants to buy your data and remunerate you for it?
(People's privacy is protected by constitutions. That is orthogonal to the ability of people to choose how to use their data)