alt Hacker NewsWhat is the word “but” doing in this sentence?
> Privacy experts I spoke with said this level of detail may feel invasive, but it's fairly standard for how large companies in the US run their loyalty programs.
Something can be both invasive and standard. This practice is both.
Replies
"but" as a coordinating conjunction doesn't always literally mean an exception. Its definition is closer to "notwithstanding". The sentence is grammatically fine and does not imply what you are complaining it does.
It means you don't need to worry, just trust the mega corporation to do what's best for you with this data!
‘… but contrary to what a regular person may think (that this level of data gathering is unusual), privacy experts know that it’s not, it is standard practice’
Subtly normalizing the invasive data collection practice.
Or maybe not so subtly.
What level of detail is invasive here though? How often and which items a customer has ordered and their predictions on future customer behaviour based on that data?
I understand privacy concerns in many cases, especially when it comes to big tech and online privacy, or credit card companies, but this to me looks like a complete nothingburger.
I see a lot of "don't worry about privacy invasion X, because privacy invasion Y is unavoidable." when talking about this stuff. People are being trained to accept "normal" violations