Proton spam and the AI consent problem (dbushell.com)

Article summary

The author received an email from Proton promoting their AI product Lumo, despite having explicitly opted out of Lumo emails. The author argues that this is a violation of their consent and potentially a breach of GDPR and UK data protection laws. Proton's support team initially failed to acknowledge the issue, but later apologized and acknowledged a bug in their system. The incident highlights concerns about the AI industry's disregard for user consent and privacy.

Main themes

• AI industry ethics
• User consent and privacy
• Email marketing and spam
• Data protection laws
• Tech company accountability

What commenters say

• The AI industry's aggressive marketing tactics and disregard for user consent are evidence of a broader problem with the industry's ethics.
• Companies that send unsolicited marketing emails, even if they claim they are not spam, are violating users' trust and potentially breaking the law.
• Email providers should take stronger action against companies that send spam, including blocking their emails by default until they stop sending unwanted messages.
• Users have a responsibility to check their spam folders regularly to ensure they do not miss important emails, and should not rely solely on email providers to filter out unwanted messages.
• The use of tracking pixels and other techniques to monitor email engagement is a common practice, but it can be used to circumvent user consent and privacy settings.
• Some commenters argue that email providers like Gmail are complicit in the spam problem due to their reliance on ad revenue and automated email scanning.
• Others believe that users should take matters into their own hands and use filters and other tools to manage their email inboxes and avoid unwanted messages.
• The incident highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability from tech companies regarding their data collection and marketing practices.