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Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

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Re: Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

#11

Post by kristianc »

Drakim wrote: post #9
kristianc wrote: post #4

This was always going to be the case. Google benefits from having a direct relationship with the customer, meaning that consent is relatively trivial to get. None of these third party tracker companies have that relationship, so rely on securing opt ins on a piecemeal basis. This is why a large number of the third party tracker companies all shut up shop in Europe in the months before GDPR.

If I go to a random website and they serve third party google ads, I don't have a direct relationship with Google in that scenario. It's not enough to say that because I have a gmail account I consent to being tracked all over the web on every website.

You don’t have a GMail account, though, as there’s no such thing as a GMail account. You have a Google account, and GMail is bundled in as a service.

FWIW - ‘tracked all over the world on every website’ also comes with some significant caveats.

Re: Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

#13

Post by paganel »

davidhyde wrote: post #3

The author of this article didn't bother to read even a summary of the GDPR law. It doesn't matter what the user consents to, you cannot use their personal data ad hoc. You need to justify its collection, storage and transfer to the regulator, not the user. This is in contrast to the ill thought out cookie law where websites could get away with it by irritating consent banners. Sort of like, but not exactly the same…

> It doesn't matter what the user consents to, you cannot use their personal data ad hoc. You need to justify its collection, storage and transfer to the regulator, not the user.

I think one of the points is that there are very few companies that have the financial resources to do that, one of those companies that can afford it being Google. The next retort is "but then those companies should stop using trackers all-together" which leaves most of those companies that don't have Google's financial resources without ad money, meaning they're most likely to go out of business, practically creating an oligopoly where a handful of companies control most of what's published on the Internet. Granted, we would have gotten there regardless, only that legislation like GDPR is accelerating this process.

Re: Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

#14

Post by louhike »

ericdykstra wrote: post #8

Is there any evidence of GDPR having the desired effect for which it was put in place? Is citizens' data being protected more than before? The second-order effects that everyone predicted are already happening (big tech companies change nothing significant, many small companies shutting down). The long-term and unforseen second-order effects have yet to bear fruit, as far as I know (please let me know if you've seen…

It's just my personal anecdote, but I'm happy to be able to choose which cookies can be used. And when I see the changes the companies I worked with and the comany in which I work had to make, I think it's a good thing. People are more cautious with how they use the data of users now.

Re: Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

#15

Post by nwellnhof »

davidhyde wrote: post #3

The author of this article didn't bother to read even a summary of the GDPR law. It doesn't matter what the user consents to, you cannot use their personal data ad hoc. You need to justify its collection, storage and transfer to the regulator, not the user. This is in contrast to the ill thought out cookie law where websites could get away with it by irritating consent banners. Sort of like, but not exactly the same…

> It doesn't matter what the user consents to

That's not entirely true. If a user really consents to being tracked for advertising purposes, the GDPR allows tracking. Whether the consent banners inform users honestly about the extent of tracking is another question. I think they don't.

What's worse is that Google still tracks users by default, even if they never visited an actual Google property, let alone have a Google account. That's an obvious violation of the GDPR but Google will probably try to shift the blame on publishers.

Re: Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

#18

Post by Brotkrumen »

ericdykstra wrote: post #8

Is there any evidence of GDPR having the desired effect for which it was put in place? Is citizens' data being protected more than before? The second-order effects that everyone predicted are already happening (big tech companies change nothing significant, many small companies shutting down). The long-term and unforseen second-order effects have yet to bear fruit, as far as I know (please let me know if you've seen…

Yes, the amount of tracking cookies is declining.

https://www.techradar.com/news/gdpr-sees-cookies-crumble-on-...

The shutting down of companies is a desired effect, because those are the companies that won't get consent. Data resellers for example that dont provide any advantage tto the user.

We haven't even seen the actual effects yet because google Facebook et al are probably in violation and are waiting to be sued to fight it out in courts

Re: Study: Google is the biggest beneficiary of the GDPR

#19

Post by mtgx »

nwellnhof wrote: post #15
davidhyde wrote: post #3

The author of this article didn't bother to read even a summary of the GDPR law. It doesn't matter what the user consents to, you cannot use their personal data ad hoc. You need to justify its collection, storage and transfer to the regulator, not the user. This is in contrast to the ill thought out cookie law where websites could get away with it by irritating consent banners. Sort of like, but not exactly the same…

> It doesn't matter what the user consents to That's not entirely true. If a user really consents to being tracked for advertising purposes, the GDPR allows tracking. Whether the consent banners inform users honestly about the extent of tracking is another question. I think they don't. What's worse is that Google still tracks users by default, even if they never visited an actual Google property, let alone have a Goo…

I think the biggest issue with GDPR so far is enforcement.

It's still early days, but many companies don't even follow GDPR as they're supposed to, including Google and Facebook. That will only be settled after an enforcement wave against both large and average-sized companies (GDPR is more lenient towards small companies).

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