[hugoroy]

Sorry that it's not clear. Happy to take suggestions for clearer language. Maybe this part should just be removed as it is maybe a bit off topic.

I am trying to lay out what principle Richard Stallman is advocating for exactly, when he says that it is never okay to collect data for the purpose of improving efficiency of a system.

The principle that RMS is pushing for here, seems to be that only “legitimate” purposes should be allowed. And RMS seems to think that “improving efficiency” is not a legitimate purpose.

So, I added this part in the post because in all fairness, if RMS thinks that we should consider that improving a system is an illegitimate purpose, then I think we finally found an actual critique of GDPR that is actually advocating for something not already in the GDPR.

But honestly, I think this is just too radical. I think that, provided the right protections are in place, the goal of improving a system has nothing illegitimate per se. I actually prefer to interact with improved systems, and if some personal data may be necessary for that, let's allow it and put the right safeguards.

Update: just "Improving a system." without more explanation is not very "explicit" - it should be put in context and more detailed, and information about the explicit purpose must be disclosed to users (see Art 5(1) and 13 of the GDPR).