On the heels of Apple’s opt-in tracking policy, NYT is calling for some drastic changes to app defaults.

America, Your Privacy Settings Are All Wrong https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/opinion/data-tech-privacy-opt-in.html

Some highlights:

Despite what corporations profess, much of this personal data is used not to improve products themselves, but to make those products more attractive to advertisers.

Corporations say opt-out provisions put control into the hands of consumers. But users are no more likely to switch off data collection than they are to read through the onerous and lengthy terms and conditions policies that litter the web. Many companies bury their data collection controls deep within their websites. Even if consumers can find them, their choices most likely don’t apply to a company’s subsidiaries or affiliates.

It should not be the role of consumers to make marketers’ jobs easier. Furthermore, there is evidence that such highly targeted advertising isn’t really necessary to support the free web, as technology companies that are against opt-in provisions often argue.

With more people spending time at home, tied to devices that relentlessly track their every keystroke, click and streaming show selection, granting users some semblance of control over their own data is more urgent than ever.