Now, I've been a subscriber to ET Prime since they launched. Partly as a occupational hazard, since they're kind of a competitor. But also because I personally love the idea of subscribers, and not advertisers, funding journalism.

This email today popped that bubble. 1/5

One of the reasons I love subscriber-funded journalism is because it preserves customer privacy (the corrosive influence of advertising is absent). Which is why this was surprising. I most definitely did NOT sign up for this ET newsletter.

I tried to unsubscribe, unsuccessfully. Who puts their unsubscribes behind a GDPR wall?

Then I noticed another email from ET Prime in my inbox. An unasked for 20% discount and a new feature - "90% less ads".

90% less compared to what? I thought ET Prime was subscriber-funded and ad-free.

That's when it struck me why ET Prime had not been allowing me to log in to my paid subscriber account for months unless I agreed "to the use of my log-in credentials information across all Times Internet properties" https://twitter.com/r0h1n/status/1247808679765663746

That line has now been changed (I've still not agreed) to make me agree "to a single sign on for seamless experience across TIL sites"

I now know what ET Prime's idea of a "seamless experience" for its paying subscribers is. You can take the Times Group out of advertising, but you can't take advertising out of the Times Group.