daisyblog

I've been feeling weird about Patreon for a long time now. They've updated their privacy policy many times in a pretty short amount of time, which seems very sus to me, and it seems like a lot of companies have been doing that lately, just constant revisions to privacy policies. I am getting the impression we are really entering into an era where data privacy and even basic identity privacy (I'll get more into that later) is just too much to expect, even and especially from very large companies and websites. It's not just hackers and data breaches people should be worried about: it's just that every fucking website you visit is collecting your browser history, browser data, operating system info, location info, and your banking info if you buy anything there, and selling them to any other company who wants it. That now includes multiple companies training AI systems with any source of cheap or free data they can get their grubby hands on.

And now Patreon wants creators of adult content to verify their age and identity by submitting GOVERNMENT ISSUED PHOTO ID to a THIRD PARTY COMPANY (Jumio), who will then use this data to train its own AI systems to "improve the service" and "eliminate bias" against people with shitty camera technology. I didn't know the bit about Jumio until I read this blog post by an awesome artist I only know as K. Brown (Unknown Binaries), where they get into some of the nitty-gritty of Patreon's current privacy policies and this ongoing photo-ID thing for adult creators. Just like that, my hunch was vindicated.

Why is Patreon putting extra pressure on adult content creators (including people who draw, paint, or digitally create nudity and sexual content)?

Because MASTERCARD has puritanical, anti-sex worker policies regarding the use of its services.

They decided in 2021 that they need to be the arbitrators of decency by implementing terms for use of their services that go far beyond any legal requirements. (Here's a solid write-up on the concerns from a contributor in the adult industry.) These include detailed and invasive identification checks for any creator of adult content, to be obtained by the company hosting or publishing such content; it also includes very rigorous requirements for content moderation PRIOR to publishing, which automatically excludes websites like Chaturbate, Twitch, and much of the content that was on OnlyFans; and of course, as per SESTA-FOSTA type thinking, websites can't host content that promotes, supports, or enables human trafficking (sex work) or non-consensual sexual activity. How exactly to implement and adhere to these guidelines is not as clear-cut as Mastercard is making them out to be. They make it sound like a reasonable proposal, that obviously we should verify the ages and consent status of the people involved in any adult content, who could be against that? It's old news that language like this is designed to entrap the support of every busybody granny, histrionic dad, and excitable liberal activist in the country, just like SESTA-FOSTA, just like all the new internet speech suppression bills going through congress right now (KOSA, Davis Cooper Act, etc) that Democrats are fawning all over because none of them wants Republicans to cast them as pieces of shit who don't care if kids see porn or get trafficked for porn. Even if they already know that these bills will be used primarily to scrub queer people and adult content creators from the internet even more thoroughly (because Republicans have already said the quiet part loud), they have to feign ignorance and play dumb, as if they simply "assumed" that the intentions of the bill were good and not at all redundant or excessive until AFTER the harms have already been done. Then they can tend the outrage farm and urge everyone to "Vote Blue No Matter Who" again so they can allegedly "stop the right-wing extremist takeover" by.... *checks notes* doing fucking nothing and passing more draconic bills. Great.

Anyway the point is, a fuckin payment portal company is causing platforms like Patreon to force us to give important identifying documents to what it describes as a "secure, global company," who will use those documents to train its AI systems for up to 3 years, and there is no way to opt out except to just leave Patreon.

So I did. Or rather, I left, and then was vindicated very soon after by another artist in the same boat who really took the time to look into and share the details. I was of course not making lots of money through Patreon (I think I had one subscriber for the past year lol) so it was relatively easy for me to do, but it was kind of a big decision. If I want to even amateurishly create and sell art or anything else, I should be giving people as many opportunities as possible to give me money right? That's the logic anyway. I'll probably start using Ko-fi or something like it for a tip jar. I think it's more honest anyway than having a subscription at this point, because I'm not reliable enough with the rate at which I make new content. With a tip jar, assuming some people are subscribed to the RSS here and possibly following me on Mastodon, they should be reminded every now and then that I exist and I do sometimes post things and they can toss me a few bucks if they want.

I may also consider adding something like an Ecommerce section on my own website in favor of Etsy. I'm not committed to that though and i do still make sales on Etsy occasionally, and other than some atrocious business decisions they've made I don't yet have an acute problem there with say, data privacy or AI-related content scraping or being punitively screened for doing adult artwork, etc. We'll see. It seems as if I'm constantly learning of new ways that Meta is fucking everyone over as well (apparently using their platforms now means you automatically consent to your data being used to train their large language models too, yippeeee), so I may also be actually deleting my accounts with them soon, rather than simply abandoning them (lol).

I just wanted to quickly explain my reasoning for the newer developments of my online landscape. :)