Text Summary Of This Email
AdGuardian Your Privacy and Security Guide
Purchase
Your printer is at risk of becoming a subscription
Gone are the days when we used to own heaps of CD discs, cassette tapes, and other material objects. Now we are increasingly living in and navigating a digital economy, heralded by Netflix and Spotify, where the concept of ownership is gradually giving way to subscription models.
And while in the past we used to think of the subscription economy only in the context of intangible goods like online audio and video content, now it has expanded to include physical items such as cars and, more recently, printers.
HP has introduced a printer rental service that includes an ink supply and a monthly quota of printed pages depending on the plan. The caveat? The printer must be hooked up to the Internet, enabling it to track your usage and share data with third parties.
If you dare to disconnect the printer or tamper with its monitoring software, HP will turn your printer into a brick. Its a stark reality of our evolving relationship with tech, where throwing ourselves at manufacturers mercy might soon turn into the only option at least it seems they really want it to be like that.
Continue reading
They will let you use it for now
Automakers lock features behind paywall
Car manufacturers like Tesla, GM, and Ford are taking advantage of over-the-air updates to turn already pre-installed car features into subscriptions. They mostly target premium functionality, but its a slippery slope that can result in us not owning cars anymore.
Late on your payment? Car may drive off
A leading car manufacturer has designed technology that allows your car to repossess itself, including locking you out of the vehicle, driving itself to the repo agency, or even to the junkyard if the cost of repossession is too high.
Netflix turns to ads: what does this mean exactly?
Netfllix, the poster child for the subscription model, has embraced ads something it once swore it would never do. More ads means more tracking and surveillance, and less privacy. Will other industries follow?
New on the blog
We rely more and more on AI, it will not bode well
Nonsensical recipes, odd-looking meals, historically inaccurate images, and error messages instead of product descriptions what do they all have in common? They are all creations of AI, and signs that we are becoming dangerously dependent.
What caught our eye
Stalkerware usage is on the rise with near 200 such apps on the market, a new report claims
Google faces lawsuit after its Gemini AI slurps up copyrighted news content for training
AdGuard news
AdGuard Browser Assistant v1.4: Migrating to Manifest V3
Protect all your devices from ads
Windows
Download
macOS
Android
iOS
Install
Try our products
AdGuard VPN
Makes you anonymous and your traffic inconspicuous
Learn more
AdGuard DNS
Helps control web traffic on all your devices
Got questions about AdGuard Ad Blocker? Contact our support team.
20092024 Adguard Software Ltd.
Unsubscribe
