From The Dystopia Chronicles: trying to improve your lot improves your lot.

In my country, Serbia, a law is about to enter into effect that mandates all users of prepaid mobile phone numbers register. I seriously considered not registering and letting my phone number lapse. But the number has been in my family for decades, and it's kind of a vanity number (it's very memorable) and some of the previous users of the number are dead and buried so it's kind of a heirloom at this point. So I went physically to the carrier's shop to register. I didn't do that electronically, I went physically.

I was expecting them to try and swindle me, to try and get me to divulge private data, and I was right. The conversation opened with the faux nice lady asking me an innocuous question that had me give away private information. It was "how much money do you spend on the phone?" If you think about it rationally, it's the most idiotic question, since the carrier knows that information. Why ask me it? Well, they trick you immediatelly and make you (a) give up private information more precious than gold and (b) they make you think about giving them money. Then she asked me a bunch of actually relevant things, and then came in the barb. She asks "who is your Internet provider?" And then "do you live in a house or appartment?" And sadly I fell for it and divulged the ISP. I don't remember telling her if it was a house or not but it doesn't matter because... Because she wrote down information from my ID card, which includes the place of residence. And it's trivial for them to figure out if I live in a house or appartment from the address.

Fortunately, just after telling them that information I realized what I did. And I got mad. Properly mad, at them and their little head games.

Then she wanted me to sign consent. Well, that's when I started trying to regain control. Better late than never, plus I was still fuming from the way they tricked me. I said I don't want to. The funny thing is, she didn't even show me the document I was supposed to sign, she just gave me a tablet with a big field in which to sign. Then I tried to negotiate a better deal. Because, obviously, if the whole thing is based on this (phantasmagoric but whatever) idea of rational market actors making rational decisions for their own good, then clearly, I ought to be able to have some choice. And I mean choice other than the "my way or highway" choice. I mean if we're going to pretend this is all consensual, if we're going to be putting the lipstick on the pig, then I'll call their bluff and actually try to be a rational actor engaging in rational economic activity. But as you might expect, the only thing I got when I told her to give me another offer was "this is a routine document that everybody signs". :) Then I asked her for a copy of the document. Now to her credit, she did actually try to figure out if she could print it. I have to give her that, she did try. But they don't have a single printer in the entire shop and sending it by email wasn't an option because neither did she ask for an email address, nor would have I given it had she asked. Apparently you can get it in "the app", but I don't have a smartphone so that option is out as well. So then it came down to me reading the document right there. Apparently this is something people don't do.

The document was as bad as you could imagine. All your base are belong to us. My favorite part was the part where they say they won't - now pay attention - they won't use my private information to form offers to third parties, in the sense they won't sell my data to third parties. But do you get it? xD They won't use it to form offers. But, of course, if they were - purely out of completely unrelated business practice - to already have a blanket deal for sharing information with those same third parties, then third parties accessing my information isn't them making an offer to the third party and therefore, they'll argue in court, I gave them permission to do that.

The fact all of this was eating their time was not something I intentionally set out to do, but it was a welcome side effect. If they don't want to negotiate a mutually acceptable offer with me, then it's resistance against the machine time.

But all of this did eventually get me something. As I was reading the document, the faux nice lady wandered off. And then I realized something. The document has a clearly separated part out, with two checkboxes, "yes" and "no", and the part says "I give permission to the company to use my data to give me offers yadda yadda yadda". Realising I just got an oppportunity, I quickly tapped "no", and then manhandled the tablet until I could figure out how to sign the document. I think the faux nice lady didn't realise I tapped that "no" when I handed her the tablet back. :) I don't really expect this will amount to anything, but it's at least a vague hope some SQL and PHP gears will grind to a halt when they see that little "no" in the database and I'll escape, I hope, at least some 60% of the evil practices going on in the company. Who knows, I might even escape their "not"-selling my data to third parties.

Given all of the above, I have a recommendation: get yourself in the headspace of "they are thieves" and immediatelly say no. Let no, negation, be the first thing that comes out of your mouth. Actually no, don't do that because the script might have an allowance for that. Instead say "I don't really know". Make it vague and confusing on the hope the script doesn't have allowance for that. Because your mind all too often runs on autopilot and if you play by the script, a script they wrote for you to follow, you won't get anywhere. So take back control.

Oh and remember that thing in November when I said the electrical utility is trying to shut down payments in cash? They shut it down completely. All the counters are shut down, in the entire country. At this point it's impossible to make them take cash from your hand. I don't plan on giving up, and I do plan on still going physically somewhere (post office?) and paying in hard cash. Resistance is not futile. We just need to increase our numbers and they'll obey. :)