2023 in RETROSPECT?

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The title may be a bit misleading, but the information posted here is as real as it gets. It was well observed that in rushed preparation for 2023, many corporate giants increased suddenly and drastically ALL their privacy requirements per their ToC (terms of service), without any prior warning to millions of customers. The changes were rolled out under a single very vague and obscure, but allegedly legally-binding terminology: “by using our service(s), users are agreeing to be bound by the Terms of Service.”

1. YouTube API audited (randomly) video publishers (uploaders) and constricted per API ToC much of active Christian content out there

2. Similar ToC updates were allegedly done on Amazon and eBay in a slightly minor scale. They both can now send emails with products related to search cookies stored in your personal browser

3. Facebook forced all user pages under their “New Page Experience,” thus constricting small-business to auto-publish new products on their Facebook market page

4. GoDaddy removed their free WebMail service, even for loyal customers for over 20-25 years, outsourcing it to Microsoft Office 365. Thus, force-merged all emails of over 20 years to Microsoft Office 365 with a single month notification, without the customers’ explicit prior consent or a proper email merging tool to help them relocate decades worth of corporate and private communication to another service provider of their choice

5. Walmart Online, which has historically advertised as a separate entity from the physical Walmart stores, has received access to and has begun storing recently purchased items and shopping lists directly into their customer’s online accounts (without their consent or notification)

6. TVA experienced several blackouts during the holidays and began rolling out 15-minute scheduled blackouts in some areas and scheduled 5hr. (midnight till 5am) power outages. TVA announced after the holidays, that they have now initiated an investigation into its own actions in order to determine the real reasons behind it

7. Most psychology/counseling licensing agencies are now rolling out a new Counselor Gateway that provides counselors and applicants with a single, unified secure portal to manage their licenses and applications

8. TSA’s has rolled out for testing nationwide the “Green Exit” recognition technology as part of their CBP Biometric Testing. Most alternative transports, like ocean cruise lines, have implemented and used the technology since the pandemic

9. MailChimp auto email list service updated ToS on 1/12/23

10. Apple iOS 15.x updated with an overnight built with new ToC the morninng of 1/13/23