"If You're Not Paying For The Product, You Are The Product"

"If You're Not Paying For The Product, You Are The Product"

To what extent is that true?

This assumes that the people who offer free stuff are selling your data in some way. Many websites have a Privacy Policy where they outline what data is being collected and how it is being used.

If a website points out that there are external links and that it is the user's responsibility to be aware of how those websites collect your data and to enter at your own risk, then in a way, yes, you're still the product even if the main website isn't actually selling your data in some way.

But even so, there are ways the user could protect their own data from being sold, like maybe using a VPN or an ad blocker. Although it is argued that VPNs and ad blockers can and may collect your personal data as well.

If you're on the Tor network and you host your own website, whatever means you use to host it can technically collect the data of whoever visits your website. This is needed to keep everything in check, to make sure everything works fine. It's not like in the clearnet where displaying targeted advertisements or researching user demographics to make money off them is a priority. If you pay a business to host your website, then the argument becomes a bit more valid depending on the privacy policy of the business. If they're just like everyone else and they collect data to make money off users, then there's a real concern. Even more so if it's a clearnet website, as clearnet hosting providers are held to higher standards than darknet ones (because they are often NOT anonymous).

So, in most cases, the aforementioned adage is true. Now, does it apply to ГОМК? It's complicated. Although OnionShare does keep track of visitors and highlights whether someone clicked something, we do not have the ability to just take that data and sell it to some big boss, because we technically govern ourselves. We are not owned by any businesses or any third party. However, we sometimes may rely on third parties to, for example, host our files for us so we can give them away for free, but those external websites tend to be known for their privacy and reliability. Nevertheless, there may be a tiny chance that those websites are being disingenuous and acting against our best interests in some covert way unknown to us. We all have to be careful about those kinds of websites because you never know. That is why it is, in certain (and arguably most) cases, better to self-host your files than to have some third party website do it for you. It is also why we are now considering self-hosting our content.

Sometimes life is more complicated than what an old saying suggests.