If they transparently inform buyers about the account requirement and what that means, then they have done their duty and are compliant, I’d say.
Not that I like that.
But as long as the consumer knows everything they need to know to make an informed decision about the product they’re going to use, it’s all good.
Now, this decision also needs to be voluntary, so if there are some dark patterns or other carefully constructed circumstances bullying the consumer into accepting all the bs, then that would violate the GDPR.
But what is voluntary or not is hard to say, for many products and services. Can be argued either way, and you better believe it will be argued either way.
The lead dev sold simplemobiletools to Zippo Apps (or whatever they’re called), a company known for buying apps and stuffing them full of ads, trackers and bullying people into buying subscriptions.
That news came a bit out of the blue, and while I understand why he sold it, the fact that he sold it to such a fuckface company that goes against everything his apps stood for is… yeah
Well, up to you to decide if pursuing an official diagnosis would help you. For the people who do have it, getting that diagnosis and actually knowing what the hell has been going on this whole time is an enormous relief.