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It's a huge competitive advantage for privacy-oriented companies that were actually following the old Data Protection Directive. I've spoken to people who are i

It's a huge competitive advantage for privacy-oriented companies that were actually following the old Data Protection Directive. I've spoken to people who are in a blind panic about GDPR day, but I've also spoken to people who were completely unconcerned because they already had their ship in order. If your business relies on re-selling user data or aggressively targeting ads through data mining, coming into compliance will be painful and expensive; it might completely break your business model. If your business just sells a useful service at a reasonable price while respecting user privacy, you've got very little to worry about.

zerostar07 8y ago
> huge competitive advantage I get the advantage of being more prepared to apply GDPR but that lasts 1-2 months max. The fact that people keep using facebook mindlessly in and out of EU over the last year makes one wonder: Does it really matter to users?
- jdietrich 8y ago
  >I get the advantage of being more prepared to apply GDPR but that lasts 1-2 months max. The advantage is in having a sustainable business model that isn't based on exploiting user data. With GDPR-compliant privacy controls in place, it'll be a lot harder to target advertising or profit from user data by selling it to third parties. Companies that provide a "free" service based on these revenue streams will face a long battle of regulatory enforcement and dwindling ARPU. They might have no choice but to completely pivot their business model. If you just provide a service in exchange for money and take reasonable steps to protect your users' privacy, it's business as usual. This applies doubly to startups. If a service like Snapchat or Instagram were to launch next week, potential investors will be asking a lot of questions about how their revenue model will hold up against GDPR. The old approach of "grab a ton of users, harvest a ton of data and figure out how to monetise it later" doesn't really stack up when your ability to financially exploit personal information is severely curtailed. If you decide to fence off EU users and exploit everyone else's data, you're playing a risky game - the regulators will not react sympathetically if it turns out your geofencing technology is imperfect and you've been illegally harvesting EU user data.
  - zerostar07 8y ago
    > The advantage is in having a sustainable business model that isn't based on exploiting user data. facebook can do that too (it's just less profitable), so there isnt really an advantage here.
taysic 8y ago
> If your business just sells a useful service at a reasonable price while respecting user privacy, you've got very little to worry about. What about games/apps people would never pay for but they would be ok with getting targeted ads within? Is the EU ok with losing these services because they would not be profitable businesses if their only option were to ask users to pay?
- jdietrich 8y ago
  >Is the EU ok with losing these services because they would not be profitable businesses if their only option were to ask users to pay? Evidently, yes. If your business can't survive without infringing on the rights of users, then the EU doesn't want your business.
  - taysic 8y ago
    But what if those apps could survive if they were allowed to ask for your private data or a payment? That wouldn't infringe on anyone's rights as far as I can tell.
    - zerostar07 8y ago
      look , the EU has decided to change the ad-supported model of the web. doesn't matter what addicted users want
      - taysic 8y ago
        Not addicted (?) - just willing to be targeted by personalized ads.

zerostar07 8y ago

> huge competitive advantage I get the advantage of being more prepared to apply GDPR but that lasts 1-2 months max. The fact that people keep using facebook mindlessly in and out of EU over the last year makes one wonder: Does it really matter to users?

jdietrich 8y ago
>I get the advantage of being more prepared to apply GDPR but that lasts 1-2 months max. The advantage is in having a sustainable business model that isn't based on exploiting user data. With GDPR-compliant privacy controls in place, it'll be a lot harder to target advertising or profit from user data by selling it to third parties. Companies that provide a "free" service based on these revenue streams will face a long battle of regulatory enforcement and dwindling ARPU. They might have no choice but to completely pivot their business model. If you just provide a service in exchange for money and take reasonable steps to protect your users' privacy, it's business as usual. This applies doubly to startups. If a service like Snapchat or Instagram were to launch next week, potential investors will be asking a lot of questions about how their revenue model will hold up against GDPR. The old approach of "grab a ton of users, harvest a ton of data and figure out how to monetise it later" doesn't really stack up when your ability to financially exploit personal information is severely curtailed. If you decide to fence off EU users and exploit everyone else's data, you're playing a risky game - the regulators will not react sympathetically if it turns out your geofencing technology is imperfect and you've been illegally harvesting EU user data.
- zerostar07 8y ago
  > The advantage is in having a sustainable business model that isn't based on exploiting user data. facebook can do that too (it's just less profitable), so there isnt really an advantage here.

taysic 8y ago

> If your business just sells a useful service at a reasonable price while respecting user privacy, you've got very little to worry about. What about games/apps people would never pay for but they would be ok with getting targeted ads within? Is the EU ok with losing these services because they would not be profitable businesses if their only option were to ask users to pay?

jdietrich 8y ago
>Is the EU ok with losing these services because they would not be profitable businesses if their only option were to ask users to pay? Evidently, yes. If your business can't survive without infringing on the rights of users, then the EU doesn't want your business.
- taysic 8y ago
  But what if those apps could survive if they were allowed to ask for your private data or a payment? That wouldn't infringe on anyone's rights as far as I can tell.
  - zerostar07 8y ago
    look , the EU has decided to change the ad-supported model of the web. doesn't matter what addicted users want
    - taysic 8y ago
      Not addicted (?) - just willing to be targeted by personalized ads.