Shower thought: is getting data collectors off your tail as easy as asking them to erase your data under GDPR? I opened the Wikipedia article on GDPR, and here are some extra thoughts that came with it:

• One of the listed lawful purposes for processing personal data is “If the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data“. You probably didn’t consent to being tracked.

• “A data controller may not refuse service to users who decline consent to processing that is not strictly necessary in order to use the service.” What if I asked to get out of the service altogether?

• “A data controller must provide, upon request, an overview of the categories of data that are being processed as well as a copy of the actual data; furthermore, the data controller has to inform the data subject on details about the processing, such as the purposes of the processing, with whom the data is shared, and how it acquired the data.” The companies must have prepared arguments against GDPR if this is in here.

• “Article 21 of the GDPR allows an individual to object to processing personal information for marketing or non-service related purposes. This means the data controller must allow an individual the right to stop or prevent controller from processing their personal data.” Yes, this is what I was looking for!