Good old NRA rule
A good example of the old NRA rule....

Got an email just now from nsif.org.uk, a non-profit that I had supported with a BIG contribution a few years ago. They're developing a new and promising technique of curing paralysis, and they weren't getting government funding. I was convinced of the validity of their science, so I contributed, and I appreciate** getting their infrequent progress reports.

Today's email:

As you may know, the data protection laws in the UK are changing and we want to make sure we have your permission to keep receiving email updates from us. If we don't hear from you, we'll sadly need to remove you from our database so please stay in touch, we need your continued support.

It will only take a moment to say yes - all you need to do is hit the button below!

AOL wouldn't allow the automatic response button, so I fetched the source, disassembled the href, and manually composed the precisely correct response mail to say YES. I presume the form is legally required.

Checking the "new data protection laws", I find they were underway even BEFORE Facebook violated its pact with Satan by allowing one byte of data to be used for purposes that might possibly be less than 100.0000% Satanic. This BBC feature on the laws was in May 2017, when Facebook was still certifiably 100.0000% demonic. I guess EU was trying to do preventative inquisition, sort of like the tyrannical equivalent of "wellness counseling."

At any rate, this email illustrates the INEVITABLE EFFECT of such laws. NSIF is a strictly legitimate and registered charity, doing everything the legit way. They made a point of asking for a response. The recipient has to do a little bit of work to maintain the legitimacy. AOL tried to protect me from this "security threat", but I know the charity is both legitimate and useful, so I did EXTRA work to get past the nanny.

Will any ILLEGITIMATE SCAM bother with these complicated steps? Not on your fucking life. They will use a trick to insure that you respond ACCIDENTALLY without even knowing it.

WHEN COMMUNICATION IS OUTLAWED, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL COMMUNICATE.


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** Why do I appreciate them? Because they thanked me personally, non-automatically, for my big contribution. This is extremely basic salesmanship, but too many websites and organizations still haven't figured it out. If you want people to continue contributing, you need to get personal.
  ¶ 7:05 AM