It seems like every mundane service these days either has added binding arbitration, or requires it on sign up. Anyone from Pornhub/various adult sites to Blue Apron all want you to waive away your rights.
Even more troubling is binding-arbitration and class-action waivers for employment. They suppress cases of systematic mistreatment and allow issues to be swept under the rug, even more so than they are already.
If you running a "real" business frequently you have to get customers to sign waivers to get insurance.
For instance, if you want to get insurance for a riding academy, they will want you to get all your riders to sign a contract that disclaims all liability, put up a big ugly sign about it, all that.
That's a much different and much narrower instance of giving up one's rights. In the case of the riding academy, the consumer can still go to court and argue that an injury was caused by negligence on the part of the business and get the waiver invalidated. Taking a company to court over a contract dispute when there's an arbitration clause involved is most likely to get the case dismissed in favor of arbitration. Arbitrators have no real requirement to actually follow any laws, and rarely do they allow any appeal, so you're essentially at the whim of the arbitrator.
Even more troubling is binding-arbitration and class-action waivers for employment. They suppress cases of systematic mistreatment and allow issues to be swept under the rug, even more so than they are already.