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Comment by Rygian | Hacker News Reader

> according to the VX team: "The database DOES NOT contain information from individuals who use data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present."

You're good, perhaps! The rest are opted-in for a data leak.

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This is a great example of why everything should be opt-in given the risk the individuals incur, not to mention the company.

If society appropriately disincentivized data collection, we could even get to where companies don't see customer data as an asset instead more as a liability.

It seems hard to disincentivize "data" in the same way it's hard to disincentivize "cocaine", e.g. to most companies "10 kg of cocaine" is a liability but there exist certain companies generally staffed by more unpleasant people who make it their business to treat it as an asset.

Which means going to a different layer / structural solution maybe. How does the value of data go to zero?

Lots of companies ran a mile from data once GDPR dropped and it’s pretty much a standard threat model for new information architectures

Nothing meaningful should stored due to data leaks liability, period. Now if data really leaks out users should be able to sue and get compensated. If companies are made to pay they'll clean up their act fast.

It shouldn't be opt-either. It should be treated as radioactive waste that you don't want anywhere near you, your family, not in cold storage, not even in a mine in the Yucca mountains.

I briefly looked into these opt-out services. Quite expensive, they are. This is the first I've seen of them. Are they scams or worth the expense?

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