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US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

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Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#31

> In June, the Justice Department, referred by the FTC, filed a lawsuit against software maker Adobe and two of its executives : > Dana Rao, Adobe’s general counsel, said in an emailed statement that Adobe disagrees with the lawsuit’s characterization of its business and “we will refute the FTC’s claims in court.” Gross. But back to topic of the headline — make it easier to click 'unsubscribe'? Why not instead make i…

> Thanks internet, for giving us this shitty opt-out world we live in now.

Membership programs and magazine subscriptions already existed well before Internet.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#32

Anecdotally: A: I get more spam than ever. What is especially annoying is that the majority of reputable companies do this. Order something? Sign up for an account? Set up an LLC? File a trademark? Boom: Spam emails UFN. B: It's easier to unsubscribe than ever: Often one-click at the bottom of the email, or let Gmail/Fastmail etc do it for you. Generally effective. One annoyance I find is the Our terms have been alte…

I've stopped unsubscribing to emails I didn't sign up for and just send to spam. It hurts their "reputation" score and wastes their money (however small amount). I encourage people to stop unsubscribing and just send it to spam.

Me too. I don't care if it's a "legit" business. Unsolicited bulk email is spam, period. If I wanted to receive junk mail, I would have signed up for that explicitly, which I most assuredly did not, no matter how many other products or services I might have purchased from that sender in the past.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#33

Disclosure: I only read up until it was revealed what the policy was. This was always my opinion on this. "As easy to cancel as it is to sign up". It's simple, and completely shuts down this malicious behaviour without making it harder to operate for the honest companies (or worse for customers in any way I can think of). Usually these policies have downsides but I can't really think of any. This kind of behaviour is…

"As easy to cancel as it is to sign up"

Hm, I would prefer two-step sign up to one-step unsubscribe.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#34
It's nice when the government improves the quality of life for regular people at the expense of businesses who are using dark patterns. I'll be sure to remember this in November.

Here's more info on the initiative: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases...

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most of the times that works and companies don't pursue the small amounts, but turning off the card doesn't actually end the agreement between you and the company. It could end up on your credit report.

> turning off the card doesn't actually end the agreement between you and the company I know of two hedge funds who buy these claims at a discount and pursue them. If you aren’t concerned with your credit score it probably isn’t a problem; I doubt either sues.

Can you detail a bit more? What funds? what do they do exactly?

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#36
post #22

What is the shopping cart service that follows me around the web, where if I put something in a cart, then walk away I get email about it. Without even signing in, often it’s a new to me retailer, but they use one of those cart nagging checkout services? Can I turn that off?

At least one of them is LeadFeeder - they aggregate information from many sites and then can match your IP etc with an existing email.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#37

Disclosure: I only read up until it was revealed what the policy was. This was always my opinion on this. "As easy to cancel as it is to sign up". It's simple, and completely shuts down this malicious behaviour without making it harder to operate for the honest companies (or worse for customers in any way I can think of). Usually these policies have downsides but I can't really think of any. This kind of behaviour is…

The same goes for all services. I was able to sign up for an ISP service (in the UK) online very easily, with a few clicks and entries onto a form to enter my details, choose my installation date, choose my speed, etc. Fast forward a few years, I'm leaving that house and need to cancel the internet - snail mail letter needed.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#38
post #2

Nice. I also wish deleting accounts was easier so that you don't have to read support FAQs and eventually find the email to send the deletion request to and wait days before being acknowledged and pestered for a "reason" you're leaving.

What gets me is that I'm way more likely to return to or recommend a service that I know I can easily cancel. Most of the streaming services are pretty good for this and I'm much happier returning to them because of that and will happily recommend them.

I remember signing up to Which? (a bit like Consumer Reports but in the UK), and cancelling my account was so f-ing hard that I will never sign up again, ever, and I will warn people away from them.

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