# What products or services are NOT getting worse?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-or-services-are-not-getting-worse/1000981>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 30, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-or-services-are-not-getting-worse/1000981 "2024-04-30T19:25:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 52

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**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-or-services-are-not-getting-worse/1000981/52 "2024-05-01T20:30:46Z")

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> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> It doesn’t appear that anyone has addressed this gripe by the OP.
> 
> I have yet to experience any negative consequences personally from data gathering by businesses on my preferences. Most companies use this information to improve their service and products. It is a way for them to receive feedback on how their products are performing so that they can improve them…that should be a good thing right?
> 
> Can you provide examples where you have actually been harmed by data gathering? Not some ephemerial feeling of having your privacy violated, but where you have experienced actual consequences.

We at the Dope are a contrarian bunch, which I like on the whole. It leads to good debate and sometimes changing of minds. But it also means that [whatever stand one takes](https://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/1982/03/27), there’s probably going to be pushback. If I had started a thread saying “Everything is great with goods and services these days, prove me wrong”, I have no doubt we’d have a lot of people trying to do so with all kinds of horror stories.

So I’m going to be contrarian here and assert:

1. Even if I were to list ways in which I have been personally harmed by data collection, people would counter (correctly) that I’m just one person and anectdote doesn’t equal data.

2. I’m comfortable taking it as a given that data harvesting is a bad thing, at least the way it’s being done in the U.S. One cite is the recent thread, [Is your car’s computer spying on you?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-cars-computer-spying-on-you/1000954). The first post covers a lot of it, and then there’s [this link at the bottom.](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/general-motors-spying-driver-data-consent.html?unlocked_article_code=1.oU0.XCLY.3Sk52PUlRT-G&smid=url-share)

I think you’re giving businesses an awful lot of benefit of the doubt by assuming they are using our data merely to improve goods and services. If a thread were started with that assumption I’m guessing we’d have a pretty lively debate.

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