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  • C.cazabon@mindly.social
    Oct 27, 2026, 7:35 PM

    Oh, *this* is scummy.

    Amazon, owner of IMDB (The Internet Movie Database), has decided that being logged into Amazon when you visit IMDB automatically means you consent to them auto-creating an account on IMDB for you. And, of course, transferring your personal info from Amazon to IMDB to populate that account.

    And *that* account is by default signed up to all of their spam and marketing preferences.

    All of this happens with zero clicks - no consent whatsoever.

    I'm going through and turning it all off, and will try to see if I can just delete it completely afterwards.

    #Amazon #IMDB #spam #marketing #consent #privacy #violation

    💬 2🔄 298⭐ 203

Replies

  • C.cazabon@mindly.social
    Oct 27, 2026, 7:40 PM

    I confirmed they transferred the name and email address from my Amazon account to IMDB.

    There is a "request deletion" function, which I selected. They want to confirm that via email, despite the fact that they had no problem creating the account without confirmation, or even consent.

    This would be wildly illegal under GDPR so I suspect people in the EU will not see this behaviour, but I'd be curious to hear from people there.

    It might even be illegal under PIPEDA in Canada, but hey, what's one more USAnian company violating our privacy laws...

    #confirmation #GDPR #EU #PIPEDA #Canada #illegal #USA #USAnian

    💬 1🔄 13⭐ 29
  • C.cazabon@mindly.social
    Oct 27, 2026, 7:46 PM

    They updated their info about this "feature" today (27 October 2026):

    help.imdb.com/article/imdb/gen

    > What's changing?
    >
    > IMDb uses Amazon's account system for sign-in and new account creation, on both
    > IMDb.com and the IMDb iOS and Android apps. If you sign in with alternative methods,
    > you will be prompted to migrate your account to sign in with Amazon going forward.
    > In some cases, you may be automatically signed in with your Amazon account.

    "In some cases"... ya, right. I bet that's "unless you've already linked your Amazon and IMDB accounts".

    💬 0🔄 3⭐ 7
  • C.cazabon@mindly.social
    Oct 28, 2026, 2:26 AM

    The fact that they default you into receiving all their spam, when they haven't even asked for permission to create the account on your behalf, is the most offensive thing about this (to me).

    I'm an email guy, and a privacy guy, and a been-on-the-net-for-about-40-years guy, and the fact that someone - a whole chain of someones - in some "legitimate" for-profit company just decided to add me to a bunch of spam they send out makes me want to introduce them to the residents of the Mariana trench.

    #spam #argh #IMDB #Amazon

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 3
  • C.cazabon@mindly.social
    Oct 27, 2026, 11:08 PM

    So, about that account deletion feature ... they even found a way to dark-pattern *that*.

    You go to the page for account deletion, only to be told you can press the button to request it, which they say they might refuse to do. But if they decide to "allow" it, they send you a confirmation email.

    You follow the link in the email, and they show you a page that looks pretty much exactly like the one you used to request it in the first place. If you don't follow the slightly-changed button link at the bottom, you never completed the "confirmation", and your deletion request goes nowhere.

    At some point, privacy legislation starts to look like an inadequate substitute for firebombing datacenters and megacorp office complexes. 🤷

    💬 0🔄 16⭐ 41
  • Cal Q Alaera :HeartNonbinary:Cal@kind.social
    Oct 28, 2026, 6:56 AM

    @cazabon This didn't happen to me (UK user) buuuuut I'm a LibreWolf user which blocks cross-site cookies, so that might have frustrated their efforts.

    I don't doubt they could fingerprint my browser session if they wanted to though, even with resist fingerprinting turned on.

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0