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Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

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Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#91
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This law has to be enforced somewhere first. Either it is enforced against Facebook first, and Facebook complains "Why don't all of the the small fries have to do it yet" and if it is enforced against the small fries, they will say, "Why doesn't Facebook have to do it yet"? And the answer is, the justice department will probably enforce the law in the way that the expect to have the best effect for themselves. It is…

> "This law has to be enforced somewhere first." Still, the lawsuits should be simultaneously served to all companies. Preferably with a courtesy heads up.

The DPR has been implemented since 1998.

GDPR had been announced 2012, implemented fully in 2016. Active enforcement will start May 2018 with again a temporary period to allow companies to correct. Refusal to comply after that can result in penalties up to a maximum of 4% of the companies global revenue.

How much courtesy lead time does a company actually need to comply?

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#92
post #85
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How can you tell facebook to not track you without a facebook account? That's the wrong question to ask. You shouldn't have to tell it not to track you. That shouldn't be able to do it, unless you explicitly tell them "hey you can track me."

You're the one in control of your browser. You know it's side effects when you load pages.

Internet had become an integral part of everyday life. This is like saying air pollution is not a problem, just don't breathe all the time.

Or is my sarcasm sensor not working this morning?

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#93
post #2

>“The cookies and pixels we use are industry standard technologies and enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU,” said Facebook’s VP of public policy for EMEA If it is "industry standard", does that make it ethical?

It's totally okay when somebody else is doing it too.

A bit like when you wait for the green light to walk over the street; if you see someone walking the red light, you walk it too.

Of course you still get flattened by a semi-truck doing 50 kph.

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#94
post #21
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stuff like this makes me so mad. 1. I don't have an account on Facebook. 2. Blocked Facebook domains via /etc/hosts 3. Use ghostery And despite all of these steps it feels like we are wasting our brightest minds to always be a step ahead in surveilling what the humans of this world are doing to exploit it for targeted advertising.

Perhaps there should be a central clearinghouse for people who don't want to be tracked by certain sites. How can you tell facebook to not track you without a facebook account? The best you can do is block various known IPs or other patterns which are bound to change over time.

How to tell Facebook that I don't want to be tracked?

By not having a fucking Facebook account! it seems to me that's actually the crux of that court decision.

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#95
post #2

>“The cookies and pixels we use are industry standard technologies and enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU,” said Facebook’s VP of public policy for EMEA If it is "industry standard", does that make it ethical?

of course not

I also don't see any advantage for the user, getting ads is not in their interest.

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#96
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny. If your site drops dramatically on Google's search results, or if YouTube/Facebook bans your account for reasons, tough luck. They are a corporation and can do whatever they want without resorting to any sort of internal consistency. But heaven forbid governments hold a dominant corporation accountable in the public interest.

>Funny. If your site drops dramatically on Google's search results, or if YouTube/Facebook bans your account for reasons, tough luck. They are a corporation and can do whatever they want without resorting to any sort of internal consistency. That's not really relevant to the parent's observation that Facebook is likely arguing that they're being singled out in an environment where their practices are so rampant as to…

Weren't these civil actions taken by private citizens/rights group?

The courts are just agreeing with these citizens/rights group. It's not like an EU agency is targeting Facebook unfairly.

Personally I can only see this as a good thing. As a non-user I don't want Facebook tracking me. Same as I don't want tracked by any other company.

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not typically how things usually work. When a government agency (think IRS or FAA) decides on a specific interpretation of a law, rule or regulation, they don’t go after a random guy to prosecute. They publish an opinion, a guideline, or interpretation and a compliance deadline. The industry is given a choice to comply or present an alternative interpretation (through courts, lobbyists or legislative represent…

Europe hews to somewhat different legal and administrative philosophies from the US, and I don't think the EU is any more corrupt than the US, arguably less so. This subject is discussed very well in a favorite little book, Adversarial Legalism by Robert Kagan.

This has nothing to with different legal systems or administrative philosophies but is all about politics.

Europe, Germany and France in particular, has a strong history of state involvement in large corporations.

I suppose you could call that an administrative philosophy. To me it sounds like another form of corruption.

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#98
post #13
post #2

>“The cookies and pixels we use are industry standard technologies and enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU,” said Facebook’s VP of public policy for EMEA If it is "industry standard", does that make it ethical?

I think the implication is more, "why are you only paying attention to us ? If you think this is a bad practice, then you should be going after our competitors , too." Corporations tend not to mind if you take away a business strategy of theirs, as long as you take it away from everybody else at the same time. If you only take it away from one corporation, that corporation will be temporarily outcompeted by the corpo…

Why don't they point out others and cooperate with EU to stop this practice altogether then?

Re: Facebook’s tracking of non-users ruled illegal again in Europe

#99
post #2

>“The cookies and pixels we use are industry standard technologies and enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU,” said Facebook’s VP of public policy for EMEA If it is "industry standard", does that make it ethical?

It doesn't. And it is a mistake to take ethics for granted and think of it as a norm because the majority of people, including those who govern and implement businesses make unethical things every day. I hope this might change once but for today the only constructive strategy is to accept this fact and defend yourselves.
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