Well if there’s a sign to never use Etsy again that was it! Unfortunately so many people are going to continue to use it and give their data away because they don’t see the harm in and will one day turn around and be like “Wait how come my likeness is in this AI photo!?” And we all WARNED them and there they will be!
Yeah, I don't understand the "I have nothing to hide, they're welcome to have my data" attitude. That hasn't ever been how it works, historically. And if nothing else, Persona has left the data they collected publicly available. Identity theft happens all the time and this makes it so much easier. And the thing is, this isn't paranoia, this is all stuff we know is happening. We know they're selling and using our data to manipulate us to the point of influencing elections, we know there are data breaches and carelessness, we know gen AI is being used to impersonate people and create fake photos and videos. But people just kind of shrug and accept it. Twitter puts an "edit with AI" button on every picture and people are still posting selfies on there.
I've closed my Etsy shop and I won't be opening it again unless maybe they get rid of this requirement in future. Same way I stopped doing NSFW art on Patreon when they started requiring NSFW artists to provide ID to prove we're over 18. It's a matter of principle as much as anything else. Maybe if enough people refuse to comply, they'll change course. I'm not hopeful atm, but they're going to keep pushing and eventually everyone reaches their limit, so you never know!











