4 ms·

The Unlikely Activists Who Took on Silicon Valley – And Won

48 points by ProAm 8y ago

IBM 8y ago
This story is incredibly well reported. The lobbying force Google, Facebook and the rest of the surveillance capitalism industry can bring to bear against privacy legislation is incredible. If Apple wants to make a real dent in the universe for privacy, they need to be the opposing force in the same arena. Privacy at a product level is great, but creating a legislative equivalent to GDPR (and their other privacy laws) in the US would be infinitely better. Loved this line: >Soltani wryly pointed out that Mactaggart had offered Silicon Valley a take-it-or-leave-it privacy policy — the same kind that Silicon Valley usually offered everyone else.
RileyJames 8y ago
> Just weeks later, the original sponsor of the Illinois privacy act, a genial Chicago-area lawmaker named Terry Link, abruptly proposed an amendment to his own law. The amendment clarified that digital photographs did not count as a source of biometric information and that the law only protected facial scans conducted “in person.” A Facebook official told me that the company had provided Link with suggestions for clarifying the law, not the language itself. But in a recent interview, Link recalled that the amendment language was given to him directly by a lawyer for Facebook. (Link did not specify who, and would not comment on why he had pursued the amendment in the first place.) Indeed, the amendment, introduced with only a few days left in the year’s legislative session, seemed tailored to buttress Facebook’s arguments in the California lawsuit, leaving Facebook and other companies free to create face scans from digital pictures without consent. Wow. Facebook get sued, so their lawyer simply emails the changes to law they need in order to get off. And it’s done. That seems incredibly corrupt. I can’t find a campaign funding details regarding Facebook contributes (I assume they’re through intermediaries of some kind) I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook contributed tho, is anyone more skilled in this area? https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/9519/terry-link https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/9519/terry-...
tareqak 8y ago
I really enjoyed this story. I hope Alastair Mactaggart has the will to fight for something stronger in the future, and I am disappointed to read that the ACLU and EFF went the route of the perfect being the enemy of the good in this case. I can see why the ACLU and EFF did what they did, but still.
RestlessMind 8y ago
Excellent article. Many points struck a nerve: - EFF et al not supporting Mactaggart's ballot proposal because it wasn't perfect - a classic case of "perfect being enemy of good", which we have seen so many times across so many issues. Why can't people lock in incremental progress and then work towards improving things further? - It took a rich man with a few million at his disposal to fight this battle. What can an ordinary citizen do? - Facebook trying to alter Illinois law stealthily - the legislator who tried to sell out should be tarred and feathered and should probably never be elected to office again. - Incredible power and influence wielded by Google, Facebook and other tech co's - one thing which could really help here would be a "woke" employee base in these companies, who can influence change from inside these companies. Let's see if Silicon Valley folks really want to make the world a better place or were they just empty words!

48 points by ProAm 8y ago

IBM 8y ago

This story is incredibly well reported. The lobbying force Google, Facebook and the rest of the surveillance capitalism industry can bring to bear against privacy legislation is incredible. If Apple wants to make a real dent in the universe for privacy, they need to be the opposing force in the same arena. Privacy at a product level is great, but creating a legislative equivalent to GDPR (and their other privacy laws) in the US would be infinitely better. Loved this line: >Soltani wryly pointed out that Mactaggart had offered Silicon Valley a take-it-or-leave-it privacy policy — the same kind that Silicon Valley usually offered everyone else.

RileyJames 8y ago

> Just weeks later, the original sponsor of the Illinois privacy act, a genial Chicago-area lawmaker named Terry Link, abruptly proposed an amendment to his own law. The amendment clarified that digital photographs did not count as a source of biometric information and that the law only protected facial scans conducted “in person.” A Facebook official told me that the company had provided Link with suggestions for clarifying the law, not the language itself. But in a recent interview, Link recalled that the amendment language was given to him directly by a lawyer for Facebook. (Link did not specify who, and would not comment on why he had pursued the amendment in the first place.) Indeed, the amendment, introduced with only a few days left in the year’s legislative session, seemed tailored to buttress Facebook’s arguments in the California lawsuit, leaving Facebook and other companies free to create face scans from digital pictures without consent. Wow. Facebook get sued, so their lawyer simply emails the changes to law they need in order to get off. And it’s done. That seems incredibly corrupt. I can’t find a campaign funding details regarding Facebook contributes (I assume they’re through intermediaries of some kind) I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook contributed tho, is anyone more skilled in this area? https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/9519/terry-link https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/9519/terry-...

tareqak 8y ago

I really enjoyed this story. I hope Alastair Mactaggart has the will to fight for something stronger in the future, and I am disappointed to read that the ACLU and EFF went the route of the perfect being the enemy of the good in this case. I can see why the ACLU and EFF did what they did, but still.

RestlessMind 8y ago

Excellent article. Many points struck a nerve: - EFF et al not supporting Mactaggart's ballot proposal because it wasn't perfect - a classic case of "perfect being enemy of good", which we have seen so many times across so many issues. Why can't people lock in incremental progress and then work towards improving things further? - It took a rich man with a few million at his disposal to fight this battle. What can an ordinary citizen do? - Facebook trying to alter Illinois law stealthily - the legislator who tried to sell out should be tarred and feathered and should probably never be elected to office again. - Incredible power and influence wielded by Google, Facebook and other tech co's - one thing which could really help here would be a "woke" employee base in these companies, who can influence change from inside these companies. Let's see if Silicon Valley folks really want to make the world a better place or were they just empty words!