Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws • Hacker News Board

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#691

Post by nickpp » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 8:59 AM UTC

ikiris wrote: post #597

l5870uoo9y wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with this otherwise seemingly reasonable position. Draghi's latest report pointed out that overregulation is a major problem in the EU and costs EU companies the equivalent of a 50% tariff (if I remember correctly). Of course, Draghi's report has led to nothing more than a few headlines.

Ok let’s take this at face value. Not being able to use child labor is a 40%+ tariff. What have we gained by framing it as such other than an extremely biased take pro unregulated business?

Such unhinged takes are one of the reasons EU has fallen behind so much. Nobody is arguing for child labor. We are just fighting for the right to build startups without worrying about reading hundred-page regulation manuals and having to hire "compliance officers" before even turning a profit.

Yeah, regulation generally tries to do good but that is going to be little consolation when EU's economy will go broke because all products and services we consume are build in less-regulated territories (USA and China to be specific).

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#692

Post by tim333 » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 8:59 AM UTC

jkaplan wrote: post #580

prolly97 wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want an internet designed by lawyers and politicians. And I'm afraid that's what this level of regulation and enforcement would create.

Right, because an internet designed by profit motive is going great

I kind of like it. I mean here we all are on it. And sites like HN can just be written by one person and put up by one person with no permissions. The alternative if the government controlled it would be something like the Apple app store where you have to pay a fee to maybe be allowed to do something.

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#693

Post by roflmaostc » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 8:59 AM UTC

EarlKing wrote: post #671

Gigachad wrote: post #616

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is still running strong on Marketplace and Groups. They have almost no competition on those.

....and I don't care because I don't use either of those. All the network effects in the world mean nothing if that network has no value to me.

Yes, but then it's about you. A significant portion of society is using Facebook marketplace and group so it won't die with "grandma"

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#694

Post by sdoering » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:00 AM UTC

NooneAtAll3 wrote: post #540

dijit wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GDPR allows for essential cookies with no popup. Implied consent is valid for most functionality, just not selling peoples tracking data or giving it to a third party who could. Its entirely possible to have no pop-up. Someone once told me they wanted one anyway because it made the site seem more legitimate than if I removed it (the only thing I would have needed to change was the embedded video from youtube and I co…

embedding youtube is enough to be non-cookiebanner-compliant??

Look at what YT loads in terms of tracking, when opening a page with an embedded YT video - even if you do not play that.

Or install something like pi-hole and watch how many analytics calls to Adobe Analytics the Adible app is sending out. Even if just idle in the background. Given the fact that you pay Adobe by the server call, Audible clearly must earn a shitload of money, if they can burn tracking calls like this.

If you are on a Mac, try Little Snitch and see where your data is going while surfing the net. No wonder in the US there are companies, that can sell you a clear image of all relevant data on nearly any person to enable algorithmic wage discrimination [1].

I know, that industry is trying to push EU further and further towards less consumer protections. But we have a great example of what that means for workers, consumers and all of us in the US.

[1]: https://pluralistic.net/2025/11/10/zero-sum-zero-hours/

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#695

Post by TrackerFF » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:02 AM UTC

wg0 wrote: post #644

Europe should make business registration a single one page one step operation first. There are dozens of stories how registering a business alone can take several months and tons of paperwork.

Well, yes, Europe is after all a collection of 44 countries, with 27 of them being in the EU, and three EFTA countries. So you're dealing with that many different sets of laws.

Some countries are extremely strict, others are more lax. Where I live (Norway), starting a business is pretty easy and straightforward. Other countries, like Germany, are notoriously difficult from what I've read.

And again, some countries have very strict laws and guidelines you need to follow, once you've started a certain type of business. Where I live it is relatively easy to start a LLC, but you'll need to put some money into it, and you can easily get fined - or even face jail - if you don't follow the laws for accounting/auditing. It becomes problematic, quite fast, if there's no unified codes for these things, if everyone's going to be able to operate cross borders.

Not to mention all the other laws (consumer laws, etc.)

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#696

Post by 1718627440 » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:06 AM UTC

Myrmornis wrote: post #520

thfuran wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The banner isn't required. They could just not do the things the banner would ask consent for.

People don't know whether they are or are not doing things that require consent under the law. That's because, if you haven't noticed, the people concerned are computer programmers, UI designers, and PMs. Notably missing from that list is "lawyers who can be bothered to research the question". People put the banners up because they see other people doing it and it seems safest. That all of this would be so should hav…

> People don't know whether they are or are not doing things that require consent under the law.

This knowledge is taught in school and we also had one lecture in university and I am not even studying CS or anything computer adjacent. You can very much rely on CS graduates to know this, and even if they don't, the company could organize a training day, like they do for all the other stuff. This is really a dumb excuse for a company.

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#697

Post by tim333 » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:07 AM UTC

shevy-java wrote: post #74

Poor Europe - lobbyists make sure that Europe stays weak. That statement includes Ursula by the way.

The current situation of having enough rules and regulations that all the AI companies set up in other countries is going great eh?

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#698

Post by qwertox » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:07 AM UTC

They had enough time to push browser vendors to implement an API which allows the user to specify the preferences, so that the page queries the API, instead of the user.

This is a step back. All these years of clicking those banners is now for nothing.

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#699

Post by 1718627440 » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:08 AM UTC

nomel wrote: post #500

rckt wrote: post #270

I get that too many regulations is a bad thing. But when we talk privacy and personal data there should be no gray zone. It has to be black and white. When I see a stupid cookie banner I search for "Reject all". There's no some data that companies can collect and process without my consent, they just shouldn't be able to collect anything without me actively opting in. Business never respects anything, but profits. Se…

You can do this trivially in modern browsers: private browsing. I have one "normal" browser window for "persistent cookie" use (like gmail, youtube, etc) and another "private" window for everything else. Cookies are lost anytime a tab closes.

Private browsing is equivalent to creating an ephemeral browser profile everytime. It might get rid of more browser storage, but for how tracking works now-a-days, it is useless. It is only for what you want to store on your disk, not for how you want to be seen to remotes.

Re: Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws

#700

Post by qwertox » Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 9:09 AM UTC

baxtr wrote: post #665

rckt wrote: post #270

I get that too many regulations is a bad thing. But when we talk privacy and personal data there should be no gray zone. It has to be black and white. When I see a stupid cookie banner I search for "Reject all". There's no some data that companies can collect and process without my consent, they just shouldn't be able to collect anything without me actively opting in. Business never respects anything, but profits. Se…

The problems are in the details: why are news organizations exempt from this rule in Europe? You can’t read news websites unless you accept all cookies or pay to read. Who decides these things? How is such a rule in favor of privacy? Why is my site where I regularly post news not eligible? Who decides which sites are eligible? It’s these kind of moral double standards and cognitive dissonances that people have to end…

> You can’t read news websites unless you accept all cookies or pay to read.

You can't even read news websites when you accept all the cookies, and then, oh surprise, you'd have to pay. But they installed the cookies nonetheless, those scammers.