"Manufacturers may intentionally damage a portion of their goods ... "[0]
The intel chip example has already been mentioned in comments. The general idea of "Damaged Goods" (and how this can benefit consumers) appears here (at Preston McAfee's site).
> but I feel like this is just a password you can't change
Not quite. IBM has (had?) a research program on "cancelable" biometrics. I do not recall perfectly, but I think they were tweaking the encoded biometric sensor data before committing it to DBs. If there is a leak, one can redo it with a new tweak (like a new salt or nonce).
I despise how they operated from start through 2017. But do I wish Uber had never happened? Nope. Also, when you say "letting them get away with .." are you including Macron, Biden etc in "them'?
This is incorrect. Not all ETFs. These funds are sector focused (vehicles). A regular S&P500 ETF will not hold NKLA.