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How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

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Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#61

Post by pascalxus »

bflesch wrote: post #41

I see this as yet another tax on (European) startups who have to invest even more resources into regulatory compliance. This prohibition of freely using all available data will create great arbitrage opportunity for the shadow economy, and will have a net negative effect on innovation. I think prohibition has very bad side effects, and that MORE transparency is the way forward in politics, economy, and also society.…

It's true. GOOG/FB have the economies of scale to deal with this. Start ups don't. This will hurt start ups more than it does GOOG/FB.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#62

Post by leggomylibro »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #52
bflesch wrote: post #41

I see this as yet another tax on (European) startups who have to invest even more resources into regulatory compliance. This prohibition of freely using all available data will create great arbitrage opportunity for the shadow economy, and will have a net negative effect on innovation. I think prohibition has very bad side effects, and that MORE transparency is the way forward in politics, economy, and also society.…

> I see this as yet another tax on (European) startups who have to invest even more resources into regulatory compliance. This also affects American companies and the degree it affects you primarily depends on how much of your business model was depending on you doing nefarious things with customer data.

Could American companies simply state that European citizens are not allowed to use their service due to stringent compliance laws, and add a checkbox stating something like, 'My residence is not subject to EU jurisdiction?'

Yeah, yeah, "giving up lots of customers," but if you're a small startup it might be attractive to target a smaller problem space to start with. Also, everyone does this already with, "I am older than 13" boxes since it's broadly illegal to collect childrens' data; you probably wouldn't even have to do any verification as long as you don't wilfully stick your fingers in your ears.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#63

Post by kartan »

bflesch wrote: post #46
usgroup wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about ethics primarily. If you don't care about ethics then expect an unethical economy.

I don't think it is about ethics, it is about control. We as European businessmen were and still are unable to generate the same kind of innovation as the US, and now they try to solve the problem by pulling down the US on our level (at least the parts concerning the EU market). I think this is the wrong approach, EU should try to make it easier for European businesses to compete with US-based ones. But in the end we…

> We as European businessmen were and still are unable to generate the same kind of innovation as the US

Tracking people around the internet. To follow them everywhere they go and save their personal information, their political ideology, etc. It is not innovation, that's just stepping over personal rights.

> I don't think it is about ethics, it is about control.

Yes. About giving back control of citizen privacy to the citizens themselves. It is not the government that decides who can own your data or when to delete it. It is European citizens that decide individually who should have their data and whom can not.

> EU should try to make it easier for European businesses to compete with US-based ones.

If you give away freedom for economic gain, you don't deserve either one.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#64

Post by discreteevent »

bflesch wrote: post #46
usgroup wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about ethics primarily. If you don't care about ethics then expect an unethical economy.

I don't think it is about ethics, it is about control. We as European businessmen were and still are unable to generate the same kind of innovation as the US, and now they try to solve the problem by pulling down the US on our level (at least the parts concerning the EU market). I think this is the wrong approach, EU should try to make it easier for European businesses to compete with US-based ones. But in the end we…

> unable to generate the same kind of innovation as the US

Well the EU seem to think that not all of this innovation is good innovation and the law specifically targets this.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#65

Post by rsp1984 »

throwaway_9123 wrote: post #54
shadowtree wrote: post #32

And if you think GDPR is a toothless joke, let's take a look at the defined fine stucture. It is pretty simple, only 3 levels (strikes for the fellow Americans): Strike 1 - Stern warning letter Strike 2 - 2% of your TOTAL GLOBAL REVENUE Strike 3 - 4% of your TOTAL GLOBAL REVENUE (or 20mil EUR, whichever is higher) And now you know why GDPR is a board level topic. Keep in mind that the EU/US Safe Harbor agreement got…

Throwaway account. I have national sales responsibilities for one of the majors. Think IBM/Microsoft/Oracle/etc leading a sales team of 74 reps. You'd be surprised at how LITTLE sales we've generated from GDPR. We've been providing free GDPR assessments for the past 1.5 years for over 200 accounts as lead gen opportunity and very little sales have resulted. It all boils down to companies simply don't believe the fine…

I understand it that $20m is just the minimum on strike three, not the upper bound (there is none I understand).

For a company that has the means to spend $10m on software and services I'd think that 4% of global revenue would be clearly the larger sum.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#67

Post by keldaris »

golemotron wrote: post #58
mnm1 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish more penalties were like this. This sounds great. Now these companies will finally have real incentive to comply. Hell, the percentages should be higher. That's the only way to enforce regulations. Otherwise, they'll just pay a puny fine, American style, and not do shit.

I've never understood what would happen if Google or Facebook just ignored EU regulations, claimed that they were not under the EU's jurisdiction, and ignored any judgement. Would the EU erect a great firewall at that point?

Couldn't they just take the money owed the usual way, by freezing accounts, confiscating assets, etc.? None of these corporations can feasibly avoid that without exiting EU markets altogether.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#68

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

throwaway_9123 wrote: post #54
shadowtree wrote: post #32

And if you think GDPR is a toothless joke, let's take a look at the defined fine stucture. It is pretty simple, only 3 levels (strikes for the fellow Americans): Strike 1 - Stern warning letter Strike 2 - 2% of your TOTAL GLOBAL REVENUE Strike 3 - 4% of your TOTAL GLOBAL REVENUE (or 20mil EUR, whichever is higher) And now you know why GDPR is a board level topic. Keep in mind that the EU/US Safe Harbor agreement got…

Throwaway account. I have national sales responsibilities for one of the majors. Think IBM/Microsoft/Oracle/etc leading a sales team of 74 reps. You'd be surprised at how LITTLE sales we've generated from GDPR. We've been providing free GDPR assessments for the past 1.5 years for over 200 accounts as lead gen opportunity and very little sales have resulted. It all boils down to companies simply don't believe the fine…

The talk on GDPR has definitely only really taken off very recently. While a year ago it was a few people that brought it up, the reality of the situation is now slowly kicking in as European customers are asking for this.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#69

Post by AndyMcConachie »

bflesch wrote: post #41

I see this as yet another tax on (European) startups who have to invest even more resources into regulatory compliance. This prohibition of freely using all available data will create great arbitrage opportunity for the shadow economy, and will have a net negative effect on innovation. I think prohibition has very bad side effects, and that MORE transparency is the way forward in politics, economy, and also society.…

As an EU citizen I don't really care about a definition of innovation that involves monetizing my data against my will or knowledge. That's not innovation it's exploitation. So I won't miss your business.

There are all kinds of 'innovations' that don't involve collecting data about me, and the companies creating these kinds of products don't have to care one lick about the GDPR.

Re: How the GDPR Will Disrupt Google and Facebook

#70

Post by tombrossman »

golemotron wrote: post #58
mnm1 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish more penalties were like this. This sounds great. Now these companies will finally have real incentive to comply. Hell, the percentages should be higher. That's the only way to enforce regulations. Otherwise, they'll just pay a puny fine, American style, and not do shit.

I've never understood what would happen if Google or Facebook just ignored EU regulations, claimed that they were not under the EU's jurisdiction, and ignored any judgement. Would the EU erect a great firewall at that point?

Google has assets within the EU which means ignoring EU laws is not an option, unless Google are prepared to forfeit those assets. It's not really a decision they have the authority to make anyhow. Imagine the shareholder lawsuits!
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