I wish there were an option to opt out of this: 'We will [...] keep you informed about this campaign and others.' I am more than willing to sign it, but I'm not interested in receiving unsolicited correspondence.
this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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Recently, when I buy a product online, I've found that even if there is an opt-out of unsolicited correspondence option (which I always select) the mere act of giving my email address or phone number means I will receive unsolicited correspondence from them. I think you might find a dedicated "this is the email I sign up for things with and don't otherwise check" address useful. I'm sharing this because I greatly empathize with you, and I don't like much of how the internet has evolved. As the internet becomes more purely about tracking/targeting, data harvesting, and profiteering, we as users must change the way we use the internet. People are spending more and more time online while I think online literacy skills continue to fall. We've so quickly changed from "you can't trust things you find online" circa 2005-2015 to "if it's online it must be true" now that everyone has a smartphone and eats up whatever the algorithms they use suggest to them. Sorry for the bit of a rant
I totally agree with what you said, and I actually do have a 'this is the email I sign up for things with and don't otherwise check' address. However, the fact that they claim they respect our privacy and at the same time acknowledge that they are going to send random emails from time to time makes me discouraged to sign letters similar to this. At least with services like change.org, we have some control over these correspondences, but when it comes to campaigns like the one posted here - which, by the way, I totally support - I find this kind of behaviour unacceptable and discouraging.
And I totally agree with you. The internet's become very dystopian. "We respect your privacy" is double-speak these days. At least there's the Fediverse to give me some hope and sanity and help me connect with like-minded others