Comment by [deleted] on 24/02/2021 at 11:16 UTC

56 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

View submission: Update to user preferences

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Comment by latkde at 25/02/2021 at 19:30 UTC

10 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Under GDPR, consent has to be freely given, specific, and informed. However, it does not generally have to be explicit, and keeping identifiable information does not generally require consent in the first place. Consent is just one of many legal bases.

A more common legal basis is a “legitimate interest”: an argument that Reddit's interests outweigh yours. However, LI gives rise to a right to opt out, unless Reddit can argue there are “overriding grounds” that mean your interests don't matter. This could e.g. be the case for security purposes – security measures would be useless if attackers could just opt out. However, removing an opt out for ad personalization doesn't sit right with me.

If you're interested in further GDPR aspects, there's a thread on r/gdpr[1] for discussion.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/gdpr/comments/lsdtya/protest_note_about_user_privacy_changes_by_reddit/