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German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

reuters.com

81–90 of 404 posts

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stop using Facebook if you want to

Will Facebook remove all of my personal data and attest to no longer collecting any future data from my online of offline activities?

Dunno man, did you give them your personal data? If yes, then according to the TOS it's theirs. If not, there's no problem.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For them. Fortunately for the rest of us, they have a solid foot on the ground both in NL and Ireland.

I see. For a second it seemed you were defending Facebook!

> For a second it seemed you were defending Facebook!

I would not rule it out on principle but it is highly unlikely.

If FB were to be shut down tomorrow I would probably not even notice.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stop using Facebook if you want to

FB can stop to have a corporate presence in the EU.

I hope they do. That will mean a lot of lost tax money for the EU (I'm EU citizen btw).

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#84
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, and this is crazy, I know, but Facebook could follow the rules.

AFAIK it follows all US laws to the letter.

That’s fantastic, for the US. The next step would be to follow all EU laws to the letter, too.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#85
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deeply unattractive business environment for companies exploiting people's personal data without their consent? Good.

If you volunteer your data to Facebook I have a hard time considering you to have been “exploited.”

They allow users on from the age of 13. It is rather unclear to some children that they are consenting to mass surveillance, rather than just trying to fit in with their friends

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#86

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…

> Now Germany - having failed to clone Facebook domestically (StudiVZ) - sits around extracting money on the grounds that users somehow did not consent to their data being used (...)

That is an inappropriate accusation. In Germany, large data collections have been seen as very problematic since before social networks were a thing. Authoritive action and laws take time to adapt to new problems. Given the prevalance of social networks like Facebook nowadays sped up the process, but I'm confident it would have come sooner or later anyways.

Also, Europe is certainly a place where one can do business very fine. Handling data about other people they are not aware of or don't consent to is a very specific aspect. Just don't record data about other people and you are fine in this aspect.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#87
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stop using Facebook if you want to

They are collecting information about me even without my consent, without having registered.

That's not true. That's the purpose of the cookie law. If you continue to use a website that gives you the notice, you've given consent. You can still use blockers also.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#88

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?

I think it's more that there just is more interest in the EU in acting on behalf of their citizens, than there is in the US. Much of the US prides itself on being "Business Friendly", and the counterpart to that is not being as responsive to citizens or employees.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#89

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…

It's a happy fact for me that the EU protects us where we fail. I am more aligned with their privacy rules and anti-trust policies than America's - grateful for it.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1., If you store data of EU residents, you are under EU jurisdiction (GDPR) and can be targeted by fines. 2., The EU is a very rich, large market - considered the single largest economy in the world (GDP per capita). Good luck not targeting it with your products. 3., The pendulum around data protection is swinging back, this is normal. Apple saw it and adjusted already. Google is cooperating and staying quiet. Only F…

> 1., If you store data of EU residents, you are under EU jurisdiction (GDPR) and can be targeted by fines. Anyone can claim jurisdiction. Enforcement is another matter entirely. If there is no presence in Europe, I can't imagine how the they would collect.

Depends on the treaties setup with the US, assuming that is where the company is based. It may be possible to take some EU judgements to a US court and have them enforce it.
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