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