Obscuring the Exit

While we do have some state privacy laws in the US that require companies to allow you to opt out of data collection, these companies have devised clever ways to make these options very hard to find and/or very hard to choose in a clear and consistent manner. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has done a study on several such companies and the tricky ways they have obscured the mechanisms to assert your privacy rights. We’ll get all the details from one of the co-authors of this report, Caroline Kraczon.

Interview Notes

• EPIC: https://epic.org/
• Opt out dark patterns: https://epic.org/press-release-epic-releases-new-report-on-manipulative-design-patterns-in-opt-out-processes/
• Full report (PDF): https://epic.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Good-Luck-Opting-Out-Manipulative-Design-Patterns-in-Opt-Out-Processes.pdf
• How to enable Global Privacy Control: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-enable-global-privacy-control/
• Yael Graur’s BADBOOL list: https://github.com/yaelwrites/big-ass-data-broker-opt-out-list
• EasyOptOuts: https://easyoptouts.com/
• My series on removing online data: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/osint-reconnaissance/
• How to enable GPC: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-enable-global-privacy-control/

Further Info

• Phase 2 has begun!! : https://fdsd.me/phase2
• Countdown to FDSD500!! https://fdsd500.com
• Get your FDSD500 merch!! https://fdsd.me/merch
• My book: https://fdsd.me/book
• My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter
• Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support

Table of Contents

• 0:00:13: Intro
• 0:01:05: Interview setup
• 0:02:32: What are dark patterns?
• 0:08:21: What dark patterns did you see?
• 0:16:01: How are state-based laws enforced on the open web?
• 0:18:03: Which companies did you study?
• 0:19:52: Which companies were worst?
• 0:23:16: How can data gathering be harmful?
• 0:27:29: How is the notice and concent model broken?
• 0:33:15: Does AI enable a whole new privacy risk?
• 0:35:38: What’s the response been to your report?
• 0:37:15: Why is publicly available data exempt?
• 0:42:02: How useful are “privacy checkup” tools?
• 0:45:13: How effective are privacy laws?
• 0:52:00: How can we reduce incentives to collect data?
• 0:54:18: What can we do?
• 0:59:09: Wrap-up
• 1:02:07: Patron podcast preview
• 1:02:47: Looking ahead