This is the balkanization of the internet. We've lived through a brief period of free exchange among peoples, but it's soon over. I predict only one viable future for all technology companies, big and small: Pick a single national jurisdiction, keep your employees and servers inside it.
Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
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Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#12I know people will be up in arms about tech companies abusing data, whatever that means, but what I don't fully understand from the article is why this is happening.
> Facebook’s UK users will remain subject to UK privacy law, which for now tracks the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
My understanding is similar to this, which is that all the privacy laws are the same, so is this a Brexit thing because the UK is outside of the EU so it's a legal liability to hold information within the EU (Facebook Ireland as it says)?
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#13Tech companies, or any company for that matter, will do what is best for themselves. Regulations exist to protect consumers and other companies from accusative behaviors. Remove the regulation and the 'we care for your privacy' message disappears with it. Because they never cared for your privacy, they will just doing what was mandatory.
> Regulations exist to protect consumers and other companies from accusative behaviors. I think this is possibly a bit naive. Regulations also exist to protect powerful people's businesses, to push personal agendas, and to further political aims even if those are not actually in the interests of any consumers. Also sometimes people think they're making a regulation to protect consumers, but actually it makes things w…
It even is sometimes weaponized to help fight competition. For example, by making it expensive to conduct a certain type of business and requiring even higher entry costs (things like certification, licences, etc.) it actually favors large, established businesses.
Case in point: Uber suggesting minimum wage for their workers, some time ago. Think about this, the company refuses to recognize them as their work force but are fine to suggest a minimum wage. As it happens, the minimum wage would put their competition out of business at that time so it must have been seen as favorable for Uber. The competition was not so well funded and so this would be an attrition war at a point in time when Uber was potentially able to win it and wipe all competition out.
This shows that you don't even need corrupt bureaucrats to have regulation steered this or that way by private business.
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#14"Facebook’s UK users will remain subject to UK privacy law, which for now tracks the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)" - so, what changes for users?
What changes is that the regulation won't be backed by the EU, so perhaps Facebook sees the UK regulator as toothless, or at least less likely to pursue things?
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Regulations exist to protect consumers and other companies from accusative behaviors. I think this is possibly a bit naive. Regulations also exist to protect powerful people's businesses, to push personal agendas, and to further political aims even if those are not actually in the interests of any consumers. Also sometimes people think they're making a regulation to protect consumers, but actually it makes things w…
Regulations are fluid and often end up raising the barrier to entry often stifling the competition.
Companies are often fluid, especially smaller ones, and can more easily adapt to a changing world.
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#16I thought the plan was that on Brexit all existing EU laws would become UK law, until we decide the change them. Did that not happen in the end?
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#17This is the balkanization of the internet. We've lived through a brief period of free exchange among peoples, but it's soon over. I predict only one viable future for all technology companies, big and small: Pick a single national jurisdiction, keep your employees and servers inside it.
It's been over for quite some time.
I'd explain more but this content is not available in your country.
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#18Guess that's why Revolut or Monzo asked what my citizenship status was. To do the same in short term future.
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#19Do you need to change your location to UK or how does it decide you are a UK user?
Re: Facebook to move UK users to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Regulations exist to protect consumers and other companies from accusative behaviors. I think this is possibly a bit naive. Regulations also exist to protect powerful people's businesses, to push personal agendas, and to further political aims even if those are not actually in the interests of any consumers. Also sometimes people think they're making a regulation to protect consumers, but actually it makes things w…
We are people foremost, not consumers, especially in the context of privacy. Please do not use their terminology, it empowers them by framing everything in the eyes of corporate interests.
When you enter a shop you become a customer, not a human being with feelings.
Same goes for those platforms. You enter it and you become a consumer.
If you're like it or not.