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Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

theregister.co.uk

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Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#31

The title should have mentioned the person by name: it's Max Schrems [1]. He has a legal background, and has fought a number of high-profile privacy cases in Europe. The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. He's a spearhead figure in this regard. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schrems

> The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. When people do this it comes across as malicious harassment rather than a genuine legal complaint for harm caused. Why so many jurisdictions, and why on the very day it came into effect?

Oh no, somebody save Google, please. A single lawyer is harassing this poor trillion dollar company.

He has any right to use all existing laws to file complaints. When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? No, you wouldn't because that would be ridiculous.

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#32
post #29
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swap "tech" with "ad" and you're in good shape. As a denizen of statistics and technology, fooey with non-anonymized identifier bits outside of bug reports. We have ways of making data speak. We genuinely rarely care the specific record identifier.

I think there’s subtle distinction, when they say “tech” it means web based human exploitation TECHniques aka “Ad”, and when they say “engineers” without specifying which(civil, mechanical, electronics etc) it implies social script engineering. I think the idea is if you think it means technology and software engineering respectively then they’d declare it a problem with your naivety thus quote-unquote your own fault…

Much as I love the cynical view (genuinely!) I abhor Orwellianism and associated doublespeak

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#33
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. When people do this it comes across as malicious harassment rather than a genuine legal complaint for harm caused. Why so many jurisdictions, and why on the very day it came into effect?

Oh no, somebody save Google, please. A single lawyer is harassing this poor trillion dollar company. He has any right to use all existing laws to file complaints. When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? No, you wouldn't because that would be r…

> When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before?

When there's a new law or a new speeding limit on an existing road the police do usually spend a while just politely warning people about it before they charge anyone.

He's an activist. Not someone who's genuinely been harmed and seeking a legal resolution as a last resort after trying to resolve in good faith first.

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#34
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, somebody save Google, please. A single lawyer is harassing this poor trillion dollar company. He has any right to use all existing laws to file complaints. When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? No, you wouldn't because that would be r…

> When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? When there's a new law or a new speeding limit on an existing road the police do usually spend a while just politely warning people about it before they charge anyone. He's an activist. Not someone who…

FAANGs had more than two years to prepare between the voting of GDPR (april 2016) and its implementation date (may 2018)

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#35

The title should have mentioned the person by name: it's Max Schrems [1]. He has a legal background, and has fought a number of high-profile privacy cases in Europe. The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. He's a spearhead figure in this regard. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schrems

> The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. When people do this it comes across as malicious harassment rather than a genuine legal complaint for harm caused. Why so many jurisdictions, and why on the very day it came into effect?

> When people do this it comes across as malicious harassment rather than a genuine legal complaint for harm caused. Why so many jurisdictions, and why on the very day it came into effect?

The very day should be obvious: because these companies had two years to prepare for and become compliant with the GDPR.

This wasn't Facebook et al. saying "oh no, we need more time please'. This was them saying "we made up our mind on the implementation; if you disagree, we'll let a judge decide."

No idea about the jurisdictions, but I'd expect there to be good reasons, too. He's an activist, but I never perceived him as an over-the-top "in-your-face" activist. On the contrary.

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#36
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, somebody save Google, please. A single lawyer is harassing this poor trillion dollar company. He has any right to use all existing laws to file complaints. When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? No, you wouldn't because that would be r…

> When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? When there's a new law or a new speeding limit on an existing road the police do usually spend a while just politely warning people about it before they charge anyone. He's an activist. Not someone who…

[deleted]

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#37
post #25
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't true for publishers. They want everyone to see ads so they can get paid.

Thanks for the added perspective, you're definitely correct. Measuring penetration is a big deal for price setting ad space. Even still, it doesn't seem to push Google to include their Ad ID system in AOSP instead of the Play Store. They could have forced ROM developers to go digging for the API to remove it.

> They could have forced ROM developers to go digging for the API to remove it.

They'd probably become a big target for regulators then.

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#38
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, somebody save Google, please. A single lawyer is harassing this poor trillion dollar company. He has any right to use all existing laws to file complaints. When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? No, you wouldn't because that would be r…

> When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? When there's a new law or a new speeding limit on an existing road the police do usually spend a while just politely warning people about it before they charge anyone. He's an activist. Not someone who…

As another poster pointed out, GDPR had a 2 year (!) period where it was already a law in all EU countries but was not enforced for exactly that reason. Try telling a cop that you need to be notified 2 years in advance.

Privacy advocates have been saying for years that Google is building profiles for every user on the internet. You were not able to get to know what Google knows about you. This changed and it is really good that it changed.

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#39

The title should have mentioned the person by name: it's Max Schrems [1]. He has a legal background, and has fought a number of high-profile privacy cases in Europe. The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. He's a spearhead figure in this regard. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schrems

> The day the GDPR came into effect, he filed violations complaints against Facebook and Google in four different jurisdictions. When people do this it comes across as malicious harassment rather than a genuine legal complaint for harm caused. Why so many jurisdictions, and why on the very day it came into effect?

Well, he couldn't file violations if there were no violations in effect, no? Does not mean that he does not feel he was damaged before then.

Re: Stop tracking me: Austrian citizen files complaint over Android Advertising ID

#40
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, somebody save Google, please. A single lawyer is harassing this poor trillion dollar company. He has any right to use all existing laws to file complaints. When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? No, you wouldn't because that would be r…

> When a new law is being introduced it should be followed immediately, especially when it impacts the lives of many. Would you argue that a speeding ticket is harassment when the fines were raised just the day before? When there's a new law or a new speeding limit on an existing road the police do usually spend a while just politely warning people about it before they charge anyone. He's an activist. Not someone who…

The EU tried to resolve the issue in good faith - they passed the GDPR with two years between publishing the law for all to see, and the date at which it would start being enforced. The various privacy-violating companies did not act in good faith by attempting to comply with the law and the guidance surrounding it, instead hoping that they could put it off until they got sued over it.
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