Not a contradiction at all

They want you to pay for the service, they certainly don't want you to get it for free!

Here in the US, there's no chance of getting any kind of privacy legislation as all the politicians are bought and paid for by exactly these outfits. It's up to the UK and EU to act as examples to the rest of the world as to how this whole system is corrupt, dishonest, and broken.

At the moment,they lose my data (as happened with TJX), I have to get new credit cards and then I have to spend hours sorting out new billing, contacting people, cleaning up the mess when things don't get paid. I never even got an apology or any kind of payment from TJX or their bank.

What is needed is legilation that forces these outfits to reimburse all affected for their costs. If my identity is stolen, reimburse me at a rate of $75 an hour for my time spent cleaning it up. When executives put those costs into their cost / benefit analysis, they'll start treating the problem seriously. Right now they (sort of) apologise, retire to the golf club, and let consumers carry the cost of cleaning up their mess.