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Comment by kamarg | Hacker News Reader

You're always the product. Even paying for a product doesn't mean they aren't gathering and selling your data. As examples, cell phone companies selling location data, tv manufacturers selling viewing data, cable/isp companies selling your browsing history, credit card companies selling your purchasing history. The list goes on. If you don't have a specific guarantee in the contract at the time you paid for a good or service that your data isn't being sold to or shared with third parties, you are the product.

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> You're always the product. Even paying for a product

Really! I am astonished that people seem comfortable that their products have prominent and sometimes dominant logos of a manufacturer, so that they have paid to be walking/driving billboards for somebody else.

Plenty of iphone and ipad cases have holes to show the mirrored Apple logo -- originally intended as a selfie mirror but obsolete for that purpose once the selfie camera was introduced. (I use both devices myself but don't worry about blocking the logo).

Growing up I was always taught logos on clothing is just free advertising for companies. I try to avoid wearing things with logos and remove stickers and decals and stuff from things I buy.

I also grew up hanging out with a bunch skaters. A few of my friends got good enough companies actually sponsored them and paid them to wear their clothes or use their boards. It sort of opened my eyes to the idea of fashion itself just being marketing.

If I do wear or use something with some kind of logo, I like to make sure it's from a company or product, whose business practices I support and don't mind advertising for rather than just because I like something they make.

It's about status. If you can associate your brand with status, you can make people do anything.

We should really be teaching people to be confident in themselves but I suppose that makes them harder to manipulate and abuse.

I agree with gumby's comment, and also wanted to add that.. I can afford the most expensive clothes you can imagine. I really can. But since I was a teenager I always disliked paying someone £€$ in order to become their walking bilboard. I equally dislike when I give my car for service, and the garage sticks 1-2-3... stickers with their logo, without asking me. If they want advertising space, they should pay for it.

My typical 'uniform' is jeans and some long-sleeve shirt, the ones you buy from Primark for £5 or £10. I have searched for similar items without logo and I can't find anyting decent. Even Patagonia sticks a logo.

They can keep their brand to themselves. If Burberry makes a long-sleeve the way I want it, without any isnignia, and the quality matches the price, I will gladly cough up the £100 to buy it, because I know it will last me 10 years. Until then, I am keeping my money - my money. :)

Depends on the item, but I chose a Patagonia rain jacket partly because their logo is a stitched on tag I could easily remove while most other brands print their logo on.

Uniqlo my man. Or actual crafted clothing.

I took the little crocodile off a Lacoste shirt once. Took fucking forever, it was stitched on super tight, but once you remove it it leaves no trace.

Cayce Pollard is real, I knew Gibson fid not invent her.

If I could afford the most expensive clothes I can imagine I would buy hand-made custom everything.

Higher end clothing doesn’t have visible logos in my experience.

I'm clearly not the product buying things in cash at my local farmer's market, but this does apply much of the time otherwise.

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