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That analogy doesn't really apply. The plumbers service and the data hostings service differ in several important ways.

The plumber is a services for hire offering. Prezi is a data storage offering.

The plumber story involves work that has not yet occured and then is subsequently canceled. Prezi involves ongoing services that are being canceled.

I don't think the plumber analogy comes even close to a good example here.



The data-storage offering isn't the issue. The issue's a related service, i.e. publication, which hasn't occurred yet.

Again, I see how this makes sense IF we assume that the "private" in "private data hosting" is severable. But while not a lawyer, I don't think that's true without a contractual agreement establishing it.

To be clear, I can appreciate that a provider might intend to offer privacy as a severable feature. But that seems like something they have to tell the customer. Before the customer uploads private information, they should be made aware that, should they stop paying, that private information will be published.

While not a lawyer, I don't think any reasonable court would buy the argument that customers who upload private information are consenting to have it published once they cancel the service unless there's strong evidence to that effect. It seems like a toxic arrangement that people would be unlikely to agree to, so I'd think that there would be a high standard of proof for the provider to establish that the customer intended to agree to it. I'm not sure if merely being buried in the fine print would be enough in a case like this, but is it even in the fine print?


I think we are in violent agreement :-)




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