yes and I believe national courts in the EU are actually obligated by the EU unfair terms directive to look for any provision in these terms that are harmful to the consumers (I think it’s called ex officio review) when any of these terms are challenged in court. I am not sure how much protection this actually gets the consumer in practice though.
Illegal only applies when the law is an enforced deterrence. If the fine is low enough, it’s the price of doing business. If it’s hard to sue or there’s no enforcement, the law may as well not exist.
Unfortunately, with these large companies it’s been both: low fines and long lawsuits, so by the time they pay a fine, they have earned 100x the fine in a month or so
Doesn’t matter if you technically consent, that shit is still illegal (at least in the EU)
yes and I believe national courts in the EU are actually obligated by the EU unfair terms directive to look for any provision in these terms that are harmful to the consumers (I think it’s called ex officio review) when any of these terms are challenged in court. I am not sure how much protection this actually gets the consumer in practice though.
Legality is pointless when the laws are not enforced.
Then there should be consequences any day now, right?
Illegal only applies when the law is an enforced deterrence. If the fine is low enough, it’s the price of doing business. If it’s hard to sue or there’s no enforcement, the law may as well not exist. Unfortunately, with these large companies it’s been both: low fines and long lawsuits, so by the time they pay a fine, they have earned 100x the fine in a month or so