Etsy makes classic non-apology, backtracks

[drwex]

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/03/etsy-reacts-to-user-outrage-makes-changes-to-feedback-system.ars

After yesterday's firestorm (an Etsy discussion board thread went to 120 pages and got locked, etc) the company has backed off on silently linking peoples' real names to their purchase histories and chosen favorites. The troubling bit is the CEO/COO's unwillingness to understand what people are upset about. They apologized for "any confusion."

Erm, no, guys, we're not confused. We're pissed off about a privacy violation. Figure it out.

Comments

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Corporate lawyers don't like it when corporate officers apologize, as it can count as an admission of liability. Ergo, waffling.

[caulay.livejournal.com]

No, they're confused about why we'd be upset and that we had any expectation of "privacy" in the first place. Didn't we know that they could do this at any time and would do it eventually? If we didn't want that information public, we should never have made those purchases/favorited those sellers/items.

Besides, "privacy" is such an out-dated concept. Don't we get that we're just more assets in their box and we need to start acting like it real soon now.