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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

#361

Post by madez »

sobani wrote: post #359
madez wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you equate technology startups with startups that finance themselves with private data (mis)use? Instead of taking profit out of private data one has, it's possible to charge for the service. Alternatively, one can use the data to finance the business but also follow the rules and regulations. I don't see the big issue here.

Why do you equate startups with startups that finance themselves with private data? Every piece of regulation is another headache for a business. Take for example the combination of GDPR + backups. If you have enough technical manpower, you can change the backups. If you have enough legal manpower, you can argue that changing those backups counts as 'unreasonable'. If you have neither you have a headache. Don't forge…

I see zero chance for the argument that it be unreasonable to adjust backups. Either they are adjusted, or they violate the law, period.

Software projects like apache2, nginx, or your favourite website framework should adapt to the GDPR to make it easier for those who use them.

How things will turn out is not settled yet. If you are a small company not focused on handling private data, and documentedly continuously work on compliance, then I see little you must fear.

Usually, if your business is handling private data of others, then you must simply know exactly what you record where, and what you don't record. That is an essential part of your business.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#362

Post by manmal »

kasey_junk wrote: post #270
manmal wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The GDPR does not allow international players to store data on EU citizens without conforming to the rules. So if FB leaves in order to avoid conformance, then they have to delete all EU citizen data.

The point is without a European corporate presence the EU loses its ability to enforce GDPR.

You are right, this might be the case, someday.. but as long as they have their tax-free money parked in the EU, removing all legal entities from the EU will be very expensive..

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#363

Post by TomMarius »

s73v3r_ wrote: post #156
TomMarius wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because nobody forces you to use websites that track you or Facebook itself. It's your voluntary choice and in many cases also your payment for the seemingly free service.

This is a very poor argument, as basically it's saying that people should go back to living in caves.

Not at all. People either don't care about this enough or they will create an alternative - them caring means a new business opportunity has been created.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#364

Post by earenndil »

petre wrote: post #319
wirrbel wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the whole EU? Too big to withdraw from.

They got out of China which is also quite big. I just wonder what would replace it if they withdraw.

They're not going to withdraw. Best-case scenario, they stay in the EU but stop abusing users' data there so much, but still make a profic. Worst-case scenario, they're able to weasle their way out of having to change anything.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#365

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

therealmarv wrote: post #236
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not entirely true - MOSS actually works quite well, and preparing a sales report grouped by country should be trivial no matter what infrastructure you're using.

No matter what infrastructure you're using? You won't believe how many payment systems out there are not very MOSS friendly. If you are a developer and cannot use VAT MOSS logic as e.g. plugin you basically have to get IP country code, add country VAT tax and adjust the payment plan. Yeah... all really really trivial if the payment system is not used to dynamic pricing on different country of customers! I hope you se…

Do you have to actually change the retail price? The way we do it is to keep the price constant for the customer. If their country has a lower VAT rate, they have to pay more. I'm not sure most even know/care how much VAT they pay, but they do care about the total price - and this doesn't change no matter if you change IP/user VPN etc. It also removes any incentives to cheat.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#366

Post by rock_hard »

buster wrote: post #328
rock_hard wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s interesting...implementing these changes won’t hurt Facebook...but they will kill any competition from other (smaller) players. This ruling will in the end contribute to Facebooks long term success and will cement its market position.

Please explain how. It would certainly help privacy respecting competitors,it seems.

It’s the same with the Banking sector...all those banking regulations are in place for a good reason, yet in sum they make it impossible to start a new bank and stifle competition/innovation.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#367

Post by rock_hard »

polotics wrote: post #320
rock_hard wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that’s gonna be enforceable...there is good reason for having a real name policy

Do you mean to say German law won't be enforceable in Germany? You try.

What I am saying is that I don’t think such ruling would hold up at the end of it all.

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#368

Post by rock_hard »

detaro wrote: post #349
rock_hard wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s interesting...implementing these changes won’t hurt Facebook...but they will kill any competition from other (smaller) players. This ruling will in the end contribute to Facebooks long term success and will cement its market position.

Which of these changes would be difficult for a smaller competitor?

The sum of them all (sometimes conflicting) across all countries will make it difficult.

Also see my other comment

Re: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal

#370

Post by tripzilch »

lima wrote: post #246

That article doesn't summarize the ruling very well. Here's a short tl;dr of the actual ruling[0]: Part A: Privacy settings - Facebook tried to claim that it is only subject to Irish law. Court disagrees since Facebook operates in Germany, so local law applies. [side note: this kind of confusion is exactly why the GDPR is needed] - Law states that the imprint must be "easily" accessible. Court found this not to be th…

Big respect for the German courts for not only having common sense but putting their foot down about it, making it explicit and taking it very seriously. I hope that many other countries follow its example.
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