Your government is elected by your populace and accountable to that populace. If people get outraged by their behavior, they get voted out of power and depending on how much political immunity they have (which depends on the particular laws of your country), possibly go to jail too.

This is why most governments tend they have significantly more stringent rules about not spying domestically unless they have a very good reason to (ex: criminal activity).

But abroad, even among very close partners, it is more free for all. What are the consequences for the government of China if they spy on you and it becomes known? Not much I reckon. Maybe some very minor embarrassment, but they'll live.

And I'm getting tired of Epic Games Launcher Storefront.

Sure, but this assumes I'm important enough to be spied on. 9/10 people's stolen data is only useful for scam calls. Hell, the conversation we just had here is 1 in a billion others that just happened, I doubt we're interesting enough for dedicated spies, lol.

Believe it or not, I've also been unironically thinking about that recently. People who go "MY DATA IS GOING TO CHINA OH NO" are likely not living in China itself. If you're Chinese or you live in China, obviously you have a lot of stakes in matters like these. If you're American or in the USA, wouldn't it make more sense that you'd be concerned more about Facebook and, yes, Steam, than if Tencent or Huawei or whatever had your data?

Obviously all of these cases are bad, giving up your data voluntarily to anyone unchecked is bad, whether it's the USA, UK, China, or the newly discovered Martian government. But people just see "China" and start going "China bad" instead of "data collection bad".

I think American companies getting their hands on data might be a tad worse than Chinese companies getting their hands on that same data, because as far as I know, Chinese firms don't seem to sell that data off to international buyers though I could be talking out of my butt here, but American firms gladly and unashamedly see it as a source of revenue, something to capitalize on. They could sell your data to your local repressive government in the name of profit and somewhere in a TOS you have signed, you have waived your right to object it, or maybe you just ended up on a website with some sort of FB tracking anyway.

So like, yeah, what if Epic gets a bit of that data and sends it to China? I mean, it's good that you're having some sort of self-awareness about what happens to what you do on the internet, I just hope that you're worried about it universally rather it being a case of "China bad", sadly those who complain about Epic data collection probably have Steam running 24/7 unchecked and unchallenged. Best launcher amirite? It was made to save PC games from becoming """niche""", not to be DRM for half-life 2. Who cares if they collect data?

Looks like i was right about how this troll thread is bait :)

Your data is always interesting as part of an aggregate to determine trends and characteristics found in larger groups of people.

And your data is more valuable in its personal detailed form than as an anonymized aggregate, because then it can be combined with future data obtained from you or otherwise re-analyzed with more flexibility to obtain further useful information that previous analysises might have missed.

But otherwise, you are right that the data is unlikely to be used against you personally unless you become important, though it is a somewhat scary prospect that anyone who could become important (and some people do, starting with our heads of state who start their lives as 'nobodies' like the rest of us) have a well stocked body of data that can be weaponized against them.

And yes, PookaMustard is most likely right that US corporations (not sure about the US government, but definitely US corporations and they are kind of large and everywhere nowadays) having your data is worse that the Chinese government, because they have no privacy laws to speak of and are liable to just sell your data to the highest bidder.

It's interesting how the dude was provided example after example of being wrong about everything, but he always chose to cherry pick one point and attack it with a flimsy reasoning that's then easily counterattacked and then he put ear plugs for the rest.

I'd think the point about valve's lovely launcher having nothing but 7 or 8 games up to 2007 or so would've changed the idea that Valve made it to save PC games from, I don't fucking know, the Boiled One for all I care. AB2012 made that point, BrianSim did it later more succinctly, yet he still insists Valve was different than Epic in their intentions. Is this how the argument goes every fucking time with other people? So much time wasted screaming at a brick wall.

Bro what?!?! It's a MONOPOLY on the market. They're not chosen to lead the industry. Their policies suck.

How are they not chosen? Everyone can make their own digital store. There's GOG and Epic, so how is it a monopoly? Nothing about what you said makes sense.
I'm obviously not talking about the fact that you should play every game you are interested in 24/7. You just move the goal post, because you don't want to admit that I made valid points that you might agree with. So you say that there are no 10-20 games on Steam that you would buy and play immediately if they would release on GOG? What other DRM free places are there that are legal, and are not overpriced almost impossible to find physical copies? I'm really curious about that.

I'm honestly not sure if you just didn't understand what I said at all, or you're just trolling.

But no, I don't think there's anything on Steam I'd feel compelled to buy and play immediately. There's probably plenty of stuff I'd add to my wishlist where they would sit for a long time with all the stuff already there, waiting their turn.

Itch.io, Humble Bundle (some games), Fireflower Games, Adventure Game Studios (ok, that's super niche, but point & clicks happen to be my niche so I'm golden). I'm not sure how are things DRM-wise on Game Jolt, but I think they sell DRM-free.

Isn't Humble Bundle just a key site? How are you playing games there?

Humble used to offer installers for some games, not sure how they operate since they got bought by IGN.
Another place that offers installers is Indiegala.

They have unfortunately shifted in that direction a long while ago now, yes, but they still offer some games as DRM-free downloads. Or at least I think they do, I haven't bought anything there in a long time, but you can still filter the store for DRM-free so I assume it hasn't changed.

The dude has recently stated he wants to "save" video games because they are "too woke" now or something. He is also infamous for buying companies and then making him a "co-founder." Valve is suddenly co-founded by Elon Musk in 2025 lol.

But yeah, he pays people to game for him and seems to want to show off as a "L33T" gamer. Wouldnt be surprised if he bought Valve and makes a gamer profile with millions of achievements to show off his "gamer skills"

You repeatedly make false and uninformed claims to argue your points on why Steam is so good or the best and refuse to do any research which is why you come off as a troll.

Look up first mover advantage and the platformer business.