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Proton spam and the AI consent problem

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Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#11

Post by hsbauauvhabzb »

Terr_ wrote: post #2

> Has anyone else noticed that the AI industry can’t take “no” for an answer? AI is being force-fed into every corner of tech. It’s unfathomable to them that some of us aren’t interested. The entire AI industry is built upon a common principle of non-consent. I can't help but see the spam as more circumstantial evidence of a bubble, where top-down "pump those numbers" priorities overrides regular process.

Agree. The number of services i use where the apps continually add new marketing preferences which are defaulted to ‘enabled’ despite the fact that all other preferences are disabled is disgusting and clearly used by some companies to ignore people’s actual preferences.

LinkedIn is one of the worst offenders.

Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#12

Post by kenhwang »

Odd, I didn't even know Proton had an AI feature until I read this article. Didn't get an email or tooltip while using the app. Didn't previously explicitly opt-out either, and when I check my notification settings, Lumo product updates is set to disabled.

Maybe someone's feature gate isn't working as intended?

I did get the Github Copilot spam email today though.

Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#13

Post by duskdozer »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #11
Terr_ wrote: post #2

> Has anyone else noticed that the AI industry can’t take “no” for an answer? AI is being force-fed into every corner of tech. It’s unfathomable to them that some of us aren’t interested. The entire AI industry is built upon a common principle of non-consent. I can't help but see the spam as more circumstantial evidence of a bubble, where top-down "pump those numbers" priorities overrides regular process.

Agree. The number of services i use where the apps continually add new marketing preferences which are defaulted to ‘enabled’ despite the fact that all other preferences are disabled is disgusting and clearly used by some companies to ignore people’s actual preferences. LinkedIn is one of the worst offenders.

Have you noticed certain financial providers sending blatant marketing emails with no unsubscribe option and a comment along the lines of "these emails are not marketing"

Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#14

Post by pil0u »

duskdozer wrote: post #13
hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. The number of services i use where the apps continually add new marketing preferences which are defaulted to ‘enabled’ despite the fact that all other preferences are disabled is disgusting and clearly used by some companies to ignore people’s actual preferences. LinkedIn is one of the worst offenders.

Have you noticed certain financial providers sending blatant marketing emails with no unsubscribe option and a comment along the lines of "these emails are not marketing"

This is illegal practice in the EU

Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#17

Post by TonyStr »

Quothling wrote: post #8

Lumo will likely be the thing that moves me away from Proton. I've been pretty happy with it, ever since they made the photo's app actually have shareable libraries it's been just as good as any other Google Mail/Photos/Files thing I've used. The password manager plugin for firefox isn't as good as bitwarden, but when you're paying it's part of the package so... If I have to encrypt my files before I use the drive, a…

It's bewildering to see privacy-focused companies like Proton and DDG jump on the AI train. I guess privacy is just a vehicle for attracting early adopters, and all those principles fall apart once their user base becomes large enough.

Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#18

Post by robin_reala »

fergie wrote: post #15

> Proton for Business newsletter AFAIK you are legally allowed to spam businesses, but not individuals. A handy get-out clause for marketeers.

How do you know the address you’re emailing belongs to a business? The head of A&A ISP in the UK used to regularly win ~£100 judgements in small claims from spammers because his personal email was leased for a nominal fee from aa.net.uk, the same domain as his business.

Re: Proton spam and the AI consent problem

#19

Post by ivan_gammel »

I think we must make it clear that this is not related to AI at all, even if the product in question is AI-related.

It is a very common problem with modern marketing teams, that have zero empathy for customers (even if they have one, they will never push back on whatever insane demands come from senior management). This is why any email subscription management interface now is as bloated as a dead whale. If too many users unsubscribe, they just add one more category and “accidentally” opt-in everyone.

It’s a shame that Proton marketing team is just like every other one. Maybe it’s a curse of growing organization and middle management creep. The least we can do is push back as customers.

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