Live data from Hacker News

UK to depart from GDPR

lawgazette.co.uk

161–170 of 659 posts

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#161
Seems there's a reason reputable news outlets aren't reporting this:

> The government has sent a first signal of its intention for UK data protection laws to part company with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. In a Financial Times article last week, culture secretary Oliver Dowden said he would use the appointment of a new information commissioner to focus not just on privacy but on the use of data for ‘economic and social goals’.

So we don't know the UK is going to depart from the GDPR, but despite that, this website is reporting that it will.

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#162

I honestly get giggles from how unprepared they are culturally for what becoming America-like will do to them. Does anyone else? American-like but with no negotiating leverage and having burned all the bridges to the other economic unions.

In terms of economy why not? The USA is equal in GDP to the entire EU, and it seems much more efficient to deal with them, an actual country, than 27 odd countries whom all have their own agenda and are masquerading as one country. Of course it's very fashionable on the internet to shit on brexit. "haha brits be dumb cus independent" - I can only imagine what sort of insecurity you're dealing with about your own coun…

GDP doesn't matter for export/import. You don't know anything about these things, so why comment?

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the protection we've never asked for. Now, can you come and change my diapers for me ?

I never asked for rigorous safety legislation around fire safety, infrastructure safety, etc. I'm still glad they exist though.

In New York, the Free Market gave us fire escapes built out of wood before regulations came around.

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have many British friends who were absolutely against this, I also know a former boss who was very public about his Brexit vote and like many of those who voted for it, will be too old to have to deal with the consequences of this decision. If anything I think it is rather unfair to hear people from other EU countries treating this process as something along the lines of 'suits them' and 'they've made their bed'. W…

I'm 24 and voted for brexit. In fact I campaigned for it and would do so again. It's really a very poor form to resort to the "dumb old racists voted for brexit hurr".

So we know you're young.

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#165

I mean this of course means EU data won’t be able to be stored on British servers as I understand it. More barriers to trade, it’s like this government is trying to destroy the economy...

Not quite, the EU and UK have a draft adequacy agreement in place. Should be signed by the time the transition period ends.

Can you supply a link - the UK would need something like GDPR in law (which we currently have rolled over) for the EU to recognise our laws... it seems like it would be difficult and pointless to change to something that slightly differs from the GDPR only to have to implement all of it's concerns for EU data anyway...

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#166
post #97

I hope the UK follows through with its 'Singapore-on-Thames' plan, which requiring losing regulatory harmonization with the EU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore-on-Thames

I was pretty disappointed after living three years in Singapore and witnessing the uglier underbelly of the country that the UK decided that's what it wanted to become almost as soon as I got home. Moreover, they don't want to copy any of the successes - e.g. their public housing system or strict "you WILL go to prison if you overcharge" price controls on medical care. They just want the tax haven, deregulation, an u…

Healthcare is paid via taxes, so how does one overcharge it?

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unclear whether the 'they' you refer to are the British people, or the class of ruling individuals who know exactly what they're doing and are set to profit immensely. (I'm aware that all sounds quite America-like already)

I have no doubt you're right, but I'm just not familiar with the specific details. What are some real ways they stand to "profit immensely"?

There are some theories in the UK that are close to conspiracy theory.

Many leading brexit proponents are rich people who made their money from the collapse of the soviet union and have assets largely outside the UK. One conspiracy theory is that they are attempting to crash the UK economy in order to buy the dip, make money from shorts and the sell off of state assets.

Another conspiracy theory is that brexit has an ideological basis in the idea of the soverign individual - related to the idea of the randian hero, the idea is that as states weaken in power, rich people will be able to transcend citizenship and attain some kind of libertarian utopia where they can do what ever they want. One of the leading brexiteers dad wrote a book about it which apparently has some following, but maybe people are just surprised that right wing politicians want a smaller state.

There is also an idea that the UK and its dependencies (e.g. virgin islands) are a tax haven. A lot of brexit money came from US activist billionaires and hedge funds, but a lot of it came from very rich russians who fled tot he UK in the 1990s with huge amounts of money that Russia say was stolen visa corruption and other criminality. The theory is that brexit was a response to EU money laundering and tax evasion rules that would have linked these rich criminals to their money to its sources, leaving them open to russian legal challenge. The theory is that for those people, brexit was a means to escape the net.

In my opinion, the role these factors played is probably overstated - brexit was primarily a backlash against globalisation and change, and a protest against the UK status quo by parts of the population that didn't believe they benefited enough from it, much like the election of Trump in the US.

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#168
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it inevitable that the UK will become like America? There are plenty of independent Algo-States that are nothing like it. Australia, New Zealand, Canada for example. This comment seems to be borne out spite more than any kind of logic.

I have no idea why but the EU/Brexit is one subject where HN comment quality falls apart. I would have assumed most people here are Americans, so not really emotionally invested in their 'side'. But this comment section is full of Twitter hot take type stuff.

To be honest, there is little emotional investment in Europe regarding Brexit. People wanted to be done with it as the process was wasting valuable union time and there was a feeling it was needlessly draging on but from what I have seen Europeans actually care very little about the UK.

Brexit mostly was and remains a domestic issue which is why it's such a touchy subject on HN where there is probably a significant number of Britons commenting.

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#169

I somewhat miss the days when the corruption was at least somewhat veiled. No-no of course we don't want to sell your data for profit, that would be ridiculous. Clearly it is just our corporate sponsors who will be doing it for us!

> I somewhat miss the days when the corruption was at least somewhat veiled. Oh, nonsense. People disagree with you politically. That doesn't make it 'unveiled corruption'. What a lazy way to think.

Corruption might be the wrong word. But 'disagree politically' suggests that what voters think matters, instead of what financial contributors desire. Every political decision has winners and losers. This one seems heavily biased towards the 0.01% of people directly financially incentivized, while the rest has to deal with the breach of privacy and the social effects of hyper targeted advertisement ( a case can be made that this includes things like the QAnon bubble )

Re: UK to depart from GDPR

#170
post #98

I somewhat miss the days when the corruption was at least somewhat veiled. No-no of course we don't want to sell your data for profit, that would be ridiculous. Clearly it is just our corporate sponsors who will be doing it for us!

Money has become the main objective, and it's poisoning us. Money is a means to an end, not the end itself. The nation (any country) needs to have human goals - not economical goals for their own sake - but a better life for us, for us all.

And I want to say that's fine, but it's the methods involved. Recently, a LOT of decisions have been made that (to me, armchair internet guy) seem to be aimed at short-term gain.

Like Brexit, the people benefiting most from it are already well settled, they're working on their short- to mid-term plan to earn a lot of money before retiring to their private island or estate or whatever. They live outside of the negative consequences of their decisions.

Meanwhile, the rest of the population will have to suffer through the consequences for the foreseeable.

Tl;dr, policy optimizing for short term individual gain instead of long term sustainable gain. And the long term gain would be so much more better as well.

All of the countries currently under a short term gain capitalist regime could be so much better for their inhabitants. Wealth, socialist policies, comfort, safety, stability, etc is all in reach. But instead the people at the top - who already live a very comfortable and privileged life so they don't see and never will see the problem - choose short term personal gain for them and their 1% friends.

Post reply on HN