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Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

theverge.com

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Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#71

Post by TomK32 »

brownbat wrote: post #33
TomK32 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An email-address to send requests to and someone setting up a process for those requests along with a definition of which data to be returned to the user, all that isn't hard to implement. GDPR has caused some panic that's unnecessary. The violations won't be fined with 4%/€20m (€ not $) right away, there's more steps before that, starting with "a warning in writing in cases of first and non-intentional noncompliance…

> GDPR has caused some panic that's unnecessary. Maybe some companies have overreacted, but dismissing them feels a bit like blaming the user for bad UX. Couldn't you argue that a law that causes a panicked overreaction was a poorly written law in at least one respect, given that laws have a communicative function? Especially if all these complaints were raised well in advance of the passage of the law, so that the d…

The regulation was in the making since 2012. Plenty of time I'd say https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regula...

The german Wikipedia has a lot more details on the history and development of the regulation: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datenschutz-Grundverordnung

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#72

Post by kodablah »

raverbashing wrote: post #32
wutbrodo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They either are mismanaged or are not willing to tell the users what data they are collecting and how they use and monetize this data. And it should worry all users, not only users from the EU. I don't know a ton about GDPR, but the article makes it look like it has less to do with Instapaper (aside from risk tolerance) and more to do with the ambiguity of the law. Some relevant quotes: > it’s more than likely to b…

> it’s not entirely clear right now what information residents will request, If they ask for something specific in an informal way, that can be provided But from the GDPRs data portability point of view, it's everything that's linked to the account. Export your Facebook data for a good example of this. HN example: it would be the information in your profile, the links/text you submitted (but not the content of the li…

From the HN example, does this include other comments that referenced my username? What about comments that might have linked to my GitHub profile? What if there are server logs that include my IP and a time which can correlate to when I posted a comment or something? What about this information on Algolia, must I contact them separately? Also, I wasn't aware...I can ask for my password hash? Can I request all of this information be deleted? (genuine questions btw assuming I were in the EU, not trolling)

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#73

Post by tobltobs »

dejv wrote: post #39

What are good alternatives to Instapaper? There is Pocket, any other recomendation? Maybe it is also time for somebody to create new app as tiny side apps owned by corporations seems to be sunseted sooner or later.

Creating new apps has just become more effort, while monetization options have become more difficult.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#74

Post by marrone12 »

dejv wrote: post #39

What are good alternatives to Instapaper? There is Pocket, any other recomendation? Maybe it is also time for somebody to create new app as tiny side apps owned by corporations seems to be sunseted sooner or later.

"Somebody" has created plenty of new apps, they just happen to get acquired as you say. If you want one that will last forever, you need to code it yourself and keep it as a personal tool.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#75

Post by ewretgg »

relics443 wrote: post #64

I'm still struggling with the fact that the EU can compel me to add what will be a funnel shattering dialog to my onboarding. I've shelved a bunch of side projects that I was excited to work on because I have no interest in dealing with any of this ambiguous law. Implementing it would most likely cause a large percentage of users to uninstall my app, because who wants to be greeted with a scary sounding dialog as the…

If you were going to make apps that didn't safeguard the users data, and this law deterred you from doing so, then the law is working as intended.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#76

Post by Dayshine »

bthdonohue wrote: post #43
Angostura wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, as The Verge says in the article: 'While we don’t know exactly what’s holding up Instapaper' I'm naturally curious as to what's holding up Instapaper. As you say, your Privacy Policy is very good, other than the disclaimer that says 'we may pass your personal data to others - who knows what they do with it eh?'. I imagine that this is the issue which is holding you up.

The scope of work for GDPR was underestimated by me, we were not able to complete that work for the deadline on Friday, and this was the required alternative. We are working very hard to minimize the service interruption.

Have you received genuine legal advice that recommended that you shut down business instead of continuing to work towards compliance?

The agencies that can enforce the GPDR want you to be compliant, not to fine you... If you're actually working towards compliance past evidence shows they won't fine you.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#77

Post by taysic »

Fradow wrote: post #9

Obviously, IANAL, but my company talked to a few over the past week. This move is, in my opinion, a bad read on the odds and European culture. First, culture. The goal (at least in France, but that's probably the same in other countries) is to get you in compliance, NOT to fine you. What this means is that before you get lawsuit and fines, someone will talk to you and work with you to see how you can get compliant. S…

Running on 'i would be really surprised if', and 'aren't likely to be' aren't really how businesses work.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#78

Post by princekolt »

bthdonohue wrote: post #5

Hey all – Brian from Instapaper here. We worked really hard to try to avoid a service interruption in the EU, but unfortunately we were unable to. We continue to work hard to ensure that the service interruption is as brief as possible. Let me know if you have any questions...

You know that you're still liable for European customer's data, even if you're offline, right? Going offline won't change anything. You can't effectively grab the database and run away.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#79

Post by reidrac »

Fradow wrote: post #9

Obviously, IANAL, but my company talked to a few over the past week. This move is, in my opinion, a bad read on the odds and European culture. First, culture. The goal (at least in France, but that's probably the same in other countries) is to get you in compliance, NOT to fine you. What this means is that before you get lawsuit and fines, someone will talk to you and work with you to see how you can get compliant. S…

I agree with you, fines will happen in extreme cases, based in my experience with similar laws.

Currently GDPR is news and there's a lot of hype around it and Instapaper is getting some attention because they failed to prepare AND, by the looks of it, decided to implement some unnecessary measures.

I'm sorry to say that this looks like a PR stunt. Are they going to block EU users for months? I think any legal action against them was very unlikely, they could have solved the situation quietly.

Re: Instapaper is temporarily shutting off access for European users due to GDPR

#80

Post by nemothekid »

Fradow wrote: post #9

Obviously, IANAL, but my company talked to a few over the past week. This move is, in my opinion, a bad read on the odds and European culture. First, culture. The goal (at least in France, but that's probably the same in other countries) is to get you in compliance, NOT to fine you. What this means is that before you get lawsuit and fines, someone will talk to you and work with you to see how you can get compliant. S…

>Well, at least that's my read on the situation. And that's how I intend to do it: pro-actively work into getting in compliance without rushing it too much, and handle things properly as they come.

A lot of the responses to the GDPR shutdowns have been like this - "you don't need to shutdown, because you won't be fined yet."

But I have to ask, isn't shutting down a better alternative to knowingly breaking the law? Weather the fine is $2 or $20M, shouldn't following the law be most important?

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