It’s too bad the author didn’t spend any time on the information that smartphone apps are allowed to collect by default, with no in-app settings to restrict them at all.
I’m with him in sentiment, of course: Dark patterns are rotten wherever they’re used, including data protection settings. But a discussion of privacy focused on window curtains seems almost pointless when the doors are jammed wide open.
“The problem isn’t data protection; the problem is data collection.”
Oh well. I guess every little bit of attention on the issue might help it get fixed some day.
It’s by design
Yes, even the author says so:
These apps intentionally come with complicated default privacy settings that paradoxically make the user’s information more public than private.
