3 ms·

> From what I've heard, Germany has some very strong privacy laws. It keeps them from being able to use products that many others around the world can use. > A

by dom0 10y ago

> From what I've heard, Germany has some very strong privacy laws. It keeps them from being able to use products that many others around the world can use. > And I'm not talking about social media- it affects basic things like timekeeping software. And German workers expect that level of privacy; they don't think it's excessive. Time tracking (Stechuhren) is commonplace, so I rather doubt this. So I would really like to know what services are actually inhibited by these "very strong" privacy laws. The only related example that comes to mind would be Google Street View. Mind you, it wasn't forbidden or anything, Google just didn't feel like providing the necessary opt-out possibilities to residents. > While I'm all for privacy, when much of the rest of the world isn't like that, it makes it significantly harder to do business with other countries. And again I ask you to provide actual examples here. Your post sounds heavily influenced by the public out speak of lobbyists in Germany who mainly work on behalf of data dealers and related companies. Actual industry isn't affected at all.

gkafkg8y8 10y ago
> Time tracking (Stechuhren) is commonplace, so I rather doubt this. When trying to rollout a SAAS app in Germany that ties individuals to the time to track workflow and time they spent on individual tasks, it was pushed back on because it was "illegal". It was only used for auditing purposes; if there were a problem, auditing data would indicate who was involved so that we could have a talk with them to ensure the process could be changed if needed to avoid the problem in the future. But, the Germans said that tracking time like this could be used to track employees in a way or for a purpose that would break privacy laws/regulations. More information about German privacy laws here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesdatenschutzgesetz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesdatenschutzgesetz Also, the HR software that we are using for time and attendance was not registered in Germany and had to go through several months of certification due to the laws there. I don't know how much of that is specifically due to privacy laws/regulations, though.
- dom0 10y ago
  > When trying to rollout a SAAS app in Germany that ties individuals to the time to track workflow and time they spent on individual tasks, it was pushed back on because it was "illegal". I doubt that this was the real reason, project and time management software with the same functionality is widespread. There is likely more to this. (I'm not saying you're not truthful, just that I don't think this was really the reason why it was pushed back by those that did). It could be, for example, that the application due to it's SaaS nature did not fully comply with some regulations regarding safe harbour. These might have required the SaaS to be hosted in specific countries. Or management decided otherwise, or any other reason.
- lima 10y ago
  > When trying to rollout a SAAS app in Germany that ties individuals to the time to track workflow and time they spent on individual tasks, it was pushed back on because it was "illegal". Probably rightfully so.

by dom0 10y ago

gkafkg8y8 10y ago

> Time tracking (Stechuhren) is commonplace, so I rather doubt this. When trying to rollout a SAAS app in Germany that ties individuals to the time to track workflow and time they spent on individual tasks, it was pushed back on because it was "illegal". It was only used for auditing purposes; if there were a problem, auditing data would indicate who was involved so that we could have a talk with them to ensure the process could be changed if needed to avoid the problem in the future. But, the Germans said that tracking time like this could be used to track employees in a way or for a purpose that would break privacy laws/regulations. More information about German privacy laws here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesdatenschutzgesetz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesdatenschutzgesetz Also, the HR software that we are using for time and attendance was not registered in Germany and had to go through several months of certification due to the laws there. I don't know how much of that is specifically due to privacy laws/regulations, though.

dom0 10y ago
> When trying to rollout a SAAS app in Germany that ties individuals to the time to track workflow and time they spent on individual tasks, it was pushed back on because it was "illegal". I doubt that this was the real reason, project and time management software with the same functionality is widespread. There is likely more to this. (I'm not saying you're not truthful, just that I don't think this was really the reason why it was pushed back by those that did). It could be, for example, that the application due to it's SaaS nature did not fully comply with some regulations regarding safe harbour. These might have required the SaaS to be hosted in specific countries. Or management decided otherwise, or any other reason.
lima 10y ago
> When trying to rollout a SAAS app in Germany that ties individuals to the time to track workflow and time they spent on individual tasks, it was pushed back on because it was "illegal". Probably rightfully so.