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Comment by marcodiego | Hacker News Reader

> may have affected information such as name, contact and demographic information, date of birth, and product registration information.

No. No matter how safe of how carefully you take your security, a vendor should NOT keep these pieces of my private information with them.

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Most of that info is already public and easily searchable. There are data brokers that gather public records (like real estate) and resell them to marketers, sales people, other data brokers, etc. It's an enormous business. Privacy is, sadly, an illusion.

Dont give it to them then,

Yes. But it is becoming increasingly difficult with "smart" or "connected" devices. Sometimes you have to fill forms to access services or agree with EULA's with abusive terms. If you disagree with the terms, you become ostracized because everybody else from your circles accepted those terms and nobody is using your open-source/decentralized/federated network or services.

You can't expect common people to be reasonable and spontaneously boycott abusive vendors. Most people are not educated enough for that. Among those who are, most don't care.

We need laws to prevent this kind of abuse so vendors can't take advantage of people who are willing to share such information even if they are knowledgeable about its implications.

We don't need laws just dont buy their products. You're asking a business to change it's business practices because you don't like them. Free market.

It's becoming more and more difficult to do so. I can't remember the last time I bought a piece of electronics that didn't have a EULA. At this point, I half expect my breakfast cereal to come with a T&C.

dont buy it then. Or even better since we are on an SV incubator website create a product that doesnt need it. Big market?

My favorite suggestion for a nationwide privacy law is simple:

Clarify that all EULAs are null and void unless they have been reviewed with counsel, signed, and notarized to ensure the user understands what they are agreeing to.

If the companies want to treat them like contracts, so should the other party. Otherwise, it all stinks of duress.

I wonder if the GP is saying that you don't necessarily have to provide your real dob etc. to vendors that coerce you in this manner. I mean, don't you want to imagine a world in which you were born on Feb-29 of some suitable leap year?

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