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>That doesn't mean you can only choose between "anything goes" and "here's a list of government-approved algorithms, everything else is illegal". But it does me

>That doesn't mean you can only choose between "anything goes" and "here's a list of government-approved algorithms, everything else is illegal". But it does mean that instead of individuals developing tools and heuristics to protect themselves, the government should mandate the creation of such tools. Except the government doesn't understand even the basics of how the internet works. And you want them to regulate the specifics of algorithms? >That's essentially what GDPR is about. Instead of having to find out for yourself how your data is being used, the company needs to tell you. Instead of having to write a crawler yourself to get your data back out, the company has to provide it to you. Here's an idea: DON'T GIVE OUT THE DATA IN THE FIRST PLACE. Ask for more controls over your data in browsers, because none of these rules are going to actually protect you. Yes, Google in Europe can't legally steal your data, but do you think a Chinese company cares? Of course not, because the EU does not have jurisdiction over them. All GDPR did was make European and above-the-board corporations and citizens worse off for some security theater, but they didn't actually deal with the problem. GDPR has also made using the web frustrating due to every single website having a pop up now and some sites being outright blocked in the EU. GDPR is a terrible example of government intervention, because it shows that the people making decisions don't understand what they're making decisions about.

Lio 8y ago
GDPR is a direct reaction to large American corporations (Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc.) not doing the right thing off their own backs for European users. They should make data collection opt-in not opt-out. It’s very hard to “not give data out in the first place”. You don’t have to give it out, they’ll do anything they can to take it from you without asking. I’ve recently had to email Airbnb to cancel my account becaue I don’t want to be tracked by Facebook and Airbnb put that tracking on every page logged in or not. Airbnb’s view is that I have to create a Facebook account and then set privacy settings there. They refuse to honour Do Not Track headers. Airbnb won’t even let me login to delete my account. Instead I have email them and hope they’ll actually delete my data and account. When you have companies making things as difficult as possible for users and using sophisticated tax avoidance to crush local competition on price you need legislation with teeth.

Lio 8y ago

GDPR is a direct reaction to large American corporations (Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc.) not doing the right thing off their own backs for European users. They should make data collection opt-in not opt-out. It’s very hard to “not give data out in the first place”. You don’t have to give it out, they’ll do anything they can to take it from you without asking. I’ve recently had to email Airbnb to cancel my account becaue I don’t want to be tracked by Facebook and Airbnb put that tracking on every page logged in or not. Airbnb’s view is that I have to create a Facebook account and then set privacy settings there. They refuse to honour Do Not Track headers. Airbnb won’t even let me login to delete my account. Instead I have email them and hope they’ll actually delete my data and account. When you have companies making things as difficult as possible for users and using sophisticated tax avoidance to crush local competition on price you need legislation with teeth.