It is an increasingly common message from websites: browse for free - if you allow us to track your data and target you with personalised ads - if you don’t, hand over some cash.
The model is known as “consent or pay” and, while it may be becoming increasingly common, questions remain over whether it is ethical or even legal.
The UK data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a consultation on the practice - it will report its findings later this year.
“In principle, data protection law does not prohibit business models that involve ‘consent or pay,’” the ICO says on its website.
“Don’t pay up and we’ll harvest your data. Pay up and we’ll still harvest your data, but in ways that we can plausibly deny we’re doing it.”
That’s the problem isn’t it.
I’d have no problem paying for privacy respecting access to websites that I used frequently except that I don’t trust them to keep their end of the deal.
Exactly. Fuck em.
Plus they can validate the data they harvest when you pay. They’ve got transactions and identity information once you pay.