5 ms·

If everyone is breaking the law then no one is.

by Sargos 8y ago

JeremyBanks 8y ago
I'm sympathetic to the dangerous of discretionary enforcement, but if you're making a dramatic change like this, it's pretty hard to avoid an awkward period while people get compliant or get shut down.
- dfxm12 8y ago
  Like the period between April 2016 and May 2018?
  - nopriorarrests 8y ago
    Without any real court cases showing how GDPR will be actually enforced, this 'introductory period' was useless. It could last 4 years instead of 2, and it would not make any difference.
    - erik_seaberg 8y ago
      There should have been a phase of mock suits. "Here's what you're doing that's against the new rules, and you have two years to knock it off or lawyer up."
- adrianratnapala 8y ago
  > ... dangerous of discretionary enforcement, but if you're making a dramatic change like this, it's pretty hard to avoid ... So what does that tell you about dramatic changes?
  - JeremyBanks 8y ago
    Nothing
RightMillennial 8y ago
More like if everyone is breaking the law, you have your pick of who to go after with selective enforcement.
JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> If everyone is breaking the law then no one is In the EU, if everyone is breaking the law then the foreign tech companies are.
- hotdog97 8y ago
  Feel free to point out actual instances, or even better, trends backing up that statement.
  - ggggtez 8y ago
    See lawsuits against Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and other large tech companies going back the last 20-30 years. This is the type of basic fact that doesn't need a citation in a discussion about GDPR. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/13/technology/how-europe-is-going-after-us-tech-giants.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/13/technology/ho...
    - hyperman1 8y ago
      I don't believe this is a fair characterization. In e.g. Belgium, privacy law is very strict and enforced for local corporation. When I read on hacker news how e.g. USA Healthcare providers dig up the old history of their clients to find a reason not to pay, I am horrified. Any West-European privacy regulator would have ended that kind of behavior long before things got this far. Probably just sending a strong 'We dont like this' message without actually starting a lawsuit would do the job. Don't forget how history hammered into the population how people died and suffered because powerful groups managed to built lists of facts. Think WWII and the jews. Or the Napoleonitic conscription lists. So if people with this background get confronted with the American Way, they don't like this. Here is a wrong that should be righted is the opinion. For now, there are no lawsuits I am aware of. If both the large tech companies and the USA government behave reasonably well, I don't expect a big one either. The governmental regulators are simply not ready for them yet, as the GDPR had a big impact on them as well. And they never like having to pay for a drawn-out legal battle.
    - 8y ago

If everyone is breaking the law then no one is.

by Sargos 8y ago

If everyone is breaking the law then no one is.

I'm sympathetic to the dangerous of discretionary enforcement, but if you're making a dramatic change like this, it's pretty hard to avoid an awkward period while people get compliant or get shut down.

dfxm12 8y ago
Like the period between April 2016 and May 2018?
- nopriorarrests 8y ago
  Without any real court cases showing how GDPR will be actually enforced, this 'introductory period' was useless. It could last 4 years instead of 2, and it would not make any difference.
  - erik_seaberg 8y ago
    There should have been a phase of mock suits. "Here's what you're doing that's against the new rules, and you have two years to knock it off or lawyer up."
adrianratnapala 8y ago
> ... dangerous of discretionary enforcement, but if you're making a dramatic change like this, it's pretty hard to avoid ... So what does that tell you about dramatic changes?
- JeremyBanks 8y ago
  Nothing

RightMillennial 8y ago

More like if everyone is breaking the law, you have your pick of who to go after with selective enforcement.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> If everyone is breaking the law then no one is In the EU, if everyone is breaking the law then the foreign tech companies are.

hotdog97 8y ago
Feel free to point out actual instances, or even better, trends backing up that statement.
- ggggtez 8y ago
  See lawsuits against Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and other large tech companies going back the last 20-30 years. This is the type of basic fact that doesn't need a citation in a discussion about GDPR. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/13/technology/how-europe-is-going-after-us-tech-giants.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/13/technology/ho...
  - hyperman1 8y ago
    I don't believe this is a fair characterization. In e.g. Belgium, privacy law is very strict and enforced for local corporation. When I read on hacker news how e.g. USA Healthcare providers dig up the old history of their clients to find a reason not to pay, I am horrified. Any West-European privacy regulator would have ended that kind of behavior long before things got this far. Probably just sending a strong 'We dont like this' message without actually starting a lawsuit would do the job. Don't forget how history hammered into the population how people died and suffered because powerful groups managed to built lists of facts. Think WWII and the jews. Or the Napoleonitic conscription lists. So if people with this background get confronted with the American Way, they don't like this. Here is a wrong that should be righted is the opinion. For now, there are no lawsuits I am aware of. If both the large tech companies and the USA government behave reasonably well, I don't expect a big one either. The governmental regulators are simply not ready for them yet, as the GDPR had a big impact on them as well. And they never like having to pay for a drawn-out legal battle.
  - 8y ago