Re: The user has no freedom but to consent
"The real problem is the insistence of the ad companies to engage in ubiquitous surveillance as part of their business model. You can absolutely do advertising without spying on everybody, it's just less lucrative."
I'm not even sure about that. In the old days of dead-tree publications, there was no ad tracking, everyone saw the same ads. That was actually a lot more lucrative. People actually bought local newspapers etc to look at the ads, and if you had an advert in a newspaper, that meant you were a big trustworthy company. Now it seems to mean you are a bottom-feeding, clickbaity scammer.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
