4 ms·

If you can't handle data reasonably then you can't handle data. I don't see why the company size is relevant.

ahartmetz 7y ago
It seems like many small companies are also not run by people who have read in some business magazine or have been told by some consultants that they need to be doing big data. Unless they do advertising, they likely don't need the data in the first place and so the path of least resistance is to do the right thing. No data, no problems.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  And if you don't do advertising how do you monetize? Do you follow all the other apps that implement gambling as their monetization strategy?
  - ahartmetz 7y ago
    You do it while complying with GDPR, of course.
  - inetknght 7y ago
    > if you don't do advertising how do you monetize? Try making sales instead of providing a "free" product?
    - K0SM0S 7y ago
      You might need data to increase your sales, though. But that parts needs not be unethical, nor leave your company.
    - Mirioron 7y ago
      Have you looked at how apps on the app stores are monetized? The only ones with a lot of success that charge upfront are big existing names or rare exceptions. Everything else that has success tends to be free. You can't compete with that, because somebody will just clone your app and release a free version of it with ads.
  - zentiggr 7y ago
    Surely there are ways to serve ads without collecting any user-specific data at all? Tada, compliance, and zero effort, too.
    - Mirioron 7y ago
      Of course there are. They also pay next to nothing and you're likely limited in scope in networks. Even then you need to be able to figure out that the ad network is actually keeping their promises. Remember that we're not talking about operations where you an just hire someone to do that. We're talking about operations where essentially you would have to figure all of that out and often take personal responsibility that you did figure it out properly.
  - chispamed 7y ago
    Targeted affiliate marketing is far better than ads imo. Odds are that you’re catering to a subgroup with very specific needs (unless you’re trying to clone facebook). You can inform users about products that they might need, ideally in form of valuable content and just include links with your vendor identifier. No third party scripts whatsoever and ads the user might actually like and click.
Mirioron 7y ago
Because this is a massive barrier to entry for Europeans. You either need to essentially be a lawyer or you can't run ads (or you break the law). Non-europeans can easily implement ads and combine this with in app purchases and what not. Europeans can't do that nearly as easily. They will get out competed. I don't see how you don't see how this is bad.
- GordonS 7y ago
  European here, both a consumer and micro-ISV owner. As a consumer, I very much like the protections the GDPR provides. As a business owner, I don't find GDPR to be a barrier to entry - TBH, anyone who actually cares about user privacy at all would have been near-compliant even before GDPR name in. For me, I think it was 1-2 days, most of it spent reading. It's not difficult to comply with, and I'd be very against exemptions for small businesses - also because larger businesses would use it as a loophole to game the system.
- platelminto 7y ago
  You very much don't need to "essentially be a lawyer" to be able to include ads - services like AdMob have easily configurable SDKs for getting GDPR-compliant consent. It's really no more than a few lines of code to respect user's privacy, and if you're collecting significantly more user data then you should be handling it with care.
- inetknght 7y ago
  > Because this is a massive barrier to entry for Europeans. No. This is a massive barrier to people who aren't used to thinking about their fellow people.
- scaryclam 7y ago
  I'm sorry but this is utter rubbish. The GDPR is easy to follow. If you can't think 9f how to run a business without being reckless or scummy, then you shouldn't be running one. I work in the EU, in tech, with customer data, with these rules and have zero problems following them.

It seems like many small companies are also not run by people who have read in some business magazine or have been told by some consultants that they need to be doing big data. Unless they do advertising, they likely don't need the data in the first place and so the path of least resistance is to do the right thing. No data, no problems.

Mirioron 7y ago
And if you don't do advertising how do you monetize? Do you follow all the other apps that implement gambling as their monetization strategy?
- ahartmetz 7y ago
  You do it while complying with GDPR, of course.
- inetknght 7y ago
  > if you don't do advertising how do you monetize? Try making sales instead of providing a "free" product?
  - K0SM0S 7y ago
    You might need data to increase your sales, though. But that parts needs not be unethical, nor leave your company.
  - Mirioron 7y ago
    Have you looked at how apps on the app stores are monetized? The only ones with a lot of success that charge upfront are big existing names or rare exceptions. Everything else that has success tends to be free. You can't compete with that, because somebody will just clone your app and release a free version of it with ads.
- zentiggr 7y ago
  Surely there are ways to serve ads without collecting any user-specific data at all? Tada, compliance, and zero effort, too.
  - Mirioron 7y ago
    Of course there are. They also pay next to nothing and you're likely limited in scope in networks. Even then you need to be able to figure out that the ad network is actually keeping their promises. Remember that we're not talking about operations where you an just hire someone to do that. We're talking about operations where essentially you would have to figure all of that out and often take personal responsibility that you did figure it out properly.
- chispamed 7y ago
  Targeted affiliate marketing is far better than ads imo. Odds are that you’re catering to a subgroup with very specific needs (unless you’re trying to clone facebook). You can inform users about products that they might need, ideally in form of valuable content and just include links with your vendor identifier. No third party scripts whatsoever and ads the user might actually like and click.

Mirioron 7y ago

Because this is a massive barrier to entry for Europeans. You either need to essentially be a lawyer or you can't run ads (or you break the law). Non-europeans can easily implement ads and combine this with in app purchases and what not. Europeans can't do that nearly as easily. They will get out competed. I don't see how you don't see how this is bad.

GordonS 7y ago
European here, both a consumer and micro-ISV owner. As a consumer, I very much like the protections the GDPR provides. As a business owner, I don't find GDPR to be a barrier to entry - TBH, anyone who actually cares about user privacy at all would have been near-compliant even before GDPR name in. For me, I think it was 1-2 days, most of it spent reading. It's not difficult to comply with, and I'd be very against exemptions for small businesses - also because larger businesses would use it as a loophole to game the system.
platelminto 7y ago
You very much don't need to "essentially be a lawyer" to be able to include ads - services like AdMob have easily configurable SDKs for getting GDPR-compliant consent. It's really no more than a few lines of code to respect user's privacy, and if you're collecting significantly more user data then you should be handling it with care.
inetknght 7y ago
> Because this is a massive barrier to entry for Europeans. No. This is a massive barrier to people who aren't used to thinking about their fellow people.
scaryclam 7y ago
I'm sorry but this is utter rubbish. The GDPR is easy to follow. If you can't think 9f how to run a business without being reckless or scummy, then you shouldn't be running one. I work in the EU, in tech, with customer data, with these rules and have zero problems following them.