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German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

reuters.com

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Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#21
I think it's interesting that more antitrust lawsuits seem to be brought and won against big SV companies recently in Europe. Is it just recently because because bureaucracy takes its' time, or is it because nowadays there is more political will to act against American companies since EU-American relations worsened since Trump came into office?

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#22

I think if I was creating a new social media website today I'd probably not set up any presence in the EU. The sheer quantity of fines for vaguely specified "crimes" being handed out makes it a deeply unattractive business environment and it seems to be getting worse. I remember when Facebook was new, one of its big competitive advantages was its easy and comprehensive privacy controls. I didn't see other social netw…

> USA doesn't constantly fine its firms for not doing "enough"

The EU isn't fining its firms. It is fining US firms. Big difference.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#23

Good A lot of Germans use Fb with a fake name anyway

>A lot of Germans use Fb with a fake name anyway

To FB the fake name is only yet another datapoint connected to your identity. Make no mistake, they know who you are and what you did last summer, and can pretty much predict what you will do next summer as well. Or worse, influence what you will do.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#24
post #8

I think if I was creating a new social media website today I'd probably not set up any presence in the EU. The sheer quantity of fines for vaguely specified "crimes" being handed out makes it a deeply unattractive business environment and it seems to be getting worse. I remember when Facebook was new, one of its big competitive advantages was its easy and comprehensive privacy controls. I didn't see other social netw…

One way of thinking of legislation is to encourage/discourage behavior indirectly. Think how putting a ridiculous tax on cigarettes makes people less likely to want to use them. In this sense, the German government (and greater EU) may be completely fine in implementing these laws to discourage the presence of these types of companies operating in their jurisdiction. After all, it is hard to argue that social media a…

I think it is pretty easy to argue that someone has the freedom to put their info on a website that will use it according to the terms of service.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#25

I think if I was creating a new social media website today I'd probably not set up any presence in the EU. The sheer quantity of fines for vaguely specified "crimes" being handed out makes it a deeply unattractive business environment and it seems to be getting worse. I remember when Facebook was new, one of its big competitive advantages was its easy and comprehensive privacy controls. I didn't see other social netw…

> USA doesn't constantly fine its firms for not doing "enough" The EU isn't fining its firms. It is fining US firms. Big difference.

This claim is completely unsubstantiated.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#26

I think it's interesting that more antitrust lawsuits seem to be brought and won against big SV companies recently in Europe. Is it just recently because because bureaucracy takes its' time, or is it because nowadays there is more political will to act against American companies since EU-American relations worsened since Trump came into office?

Those who can’t innovate, regulate. I think trying to money from big US tech companies since Europe doesn’t have many of its own is definitely part of the equation.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#28

I think it's interesting that more antitrust lawsuits seem to be brought and won against big SV companies recently in Europe. Is it just recently because because bureaucracy takes its' time, or is it because nowadays there is more political will to act against American companies since EU-American relations worsened since Trump came into office?

Not everything is about Trump.

The EU has long had stronger user-privacy protections. This isn't new or unique to the last year.

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