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Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

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Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#291

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It's much harder to fine companies that break the law if they make up a substantial part of your economy. On the other hand, big US companies don't have as much lobby power in the EU, so the EU is "free" to fine them.

> It's much harder to fine companies that break the law if they make up a substantial part of your economy.

Any evidence of this in the EU? EU courts and regulators seem to give no hecks about economy or reason. Data protection is great and all, but GDPR is a dumpster fire.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know EU has stronger data privacy laws. I just wonder if they're really all that upset about American companies breaking them. They get to use the new tech and fine the companies that bring that tech to them. It's a win-win.

That certainly is.... a take. Still a silly one if you ask me. If that were true they wouldn't fine EU companies either. Yet, that is also happening.

It's kind of like an ambulance-chasing lawyer. Yeah the driver at fault did real harm and owes money to the victim. But the lawyer is not a selfless justice crusader - he's looking for a payday. That's how I see the EU in these cases.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#293
post #146

Funny thing is, us data is almost always maintained by people outside of the US, at least for banking. The servers may live in the us, but the people accessing it are probably located in Europe or India. This also means that the data lives their temporarily while it is being accessed. The US definitely needs stronger laws here.

> The US definitely needs stronger laws here.

Can someone clarify for me why the physical location where data is stored is a big deal? Why does the US need stronger laws here?

This is probably just my inner naive technologist speaking, but I really enjoyed the moment of time during which the internet was a global network of computers that created a virtual space where physical borders were largely irrelevant. So it's a bit jarring for me to see people take for granted the idea that borders matter on the internet after all.

Edit: 0x62 has a good explanation here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41357888

I hadn't considered the recursive nature of suppliers.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#294

[flagged]

It has indeed. American companies basically finance the EU superstate bureaucracy. I'd like to see some reciprocity on the American side, fining EU businesses dollar for dollar.

Or at least stopping US tax money from subsidizing the EU in areas like defense.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shouldn't be a problem for Europeans to access/process U.S. data that belongs to U.S. citizens - GDPR doesn't cover that AFAIK, so it's fine for it to cross borders. The issue is with GDPR protected data of EU citizens, as the law does not permit that data to cross non-EU borders unless it's for specific exemptions such as law enforcement.

Or, IIRC, if the destination country has privacy protections that are at least as strict as those in the EU, which the US legal regime for foreign intelligence definitely doesn’t provide (a non-US-citizen wouldn’t even have standing to sue wrt their personal data).

> a non-US-citizen wouldn’t even have standing to sue wrt their personal data

Sure they would, I think? They would just have to foot the bill to travel and file in a US court. And whatever user agreements they 'agreed' to might come in to play without legislation to supersede it. But they would have standing, I'm pretty sure.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#296
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once again demonstrating that fining a corporation for criminal behavior is simply adding to their operating cost, and the lawyers will always get paid

> Once again demonstrating that fining a corporation for criminal behavior is simply adding to their operating cost what is the major insight that you are trying to share?

The rich are above the law as long as they don’t mess with another rich person

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is then Europe doesn't seem too upset about it. How could they be when it pays them so well?

How would you suggest they express their disapproval, if not through the legal system? I'm personally not opposed to holding conpany executives personally accountable, including jail time in severe cases, but I don't think this would go over well with the US government.

France has picked that method with Telegram.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#298
post #99

We are fortunate to have lived through a brief period where the internet was truly a global network. A person in the Netherlands or Nigeria [1] could access the best technology services the world had to offer. People could more or less interact freely across borders. Obviously this is coming to an end. Every fiefdom wants their cut and their say, to the point where the internet being a global network is obviously bec…

These laws have been created for good reasons, and US tech companies have had free reign to trample on people's privacy rights for a very long time. If a company acts in a honorable way, there's nothing to fear and they can easily do business world wide. It's when companies do things that are shady and should've been outlawed from the start that they run into trouble. The main issue here is that the US has the least…

"What about the users' freedom to live without being spied upon?" Pretty simple, don't use Uber.

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know EU has stronger data privacy laws. I just wonder if they're really all that upset about American companies breaking them. They get to use the new tech and fine the companies that bring that tech to them. It's a win-win.

What does "upset" mean here? How does this human emotion "upset" apply to the European Union ? Is Uber "upset"?

[flagged]

Re: Dutch DPA fines Uber €290M because of transfers of drivers’ data to the US

#300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is then Europe doesn't seem too upset about it. How could they be when it pays them so well?

How would you suggest they express their disapproval, if not through the legal system? I'm personally not opposed to holding conpany executives personally accountable, including jail time in severe cases, but I don't think this would go over well with the US government.

The fines seem to be low enough to be a Cost of Business while not high enough to actually force behavior for the largest companies.

While the personal accountability would be nice but is political infeasible, I wonder if the EU could revoke business licenses to remove US companies access to the EU market.

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