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The EU is a nightmare of over regulation. No wonder the U.K. is leaving. They can’t just leave people well enough alone. Imgur has recently started displaying

The EU is a nightmare of over regulation. No wonder the U.K. is leaving. They can’t just leave people well enough alone. Imgur has recently started displaying a GDPR cookie notice modal over the entire page on their image only URLs. I feel like I can’t escape the EU’s ruination of the Internet and I have never stepped foot in the bloc.

the_other 7y ago
The hope behind GDPR, as with the earlier "cookie law" was that businesses would respond by improving their revenue models and data practices. Instead businesses have responded by making the UX shit for their users whilst claiming they had to do it to follow the law.
- _-___________-_ 7y ago
  While the UX is definitely shit, GDPR has definitely improved privacy practices within the EU.
raverbashing 7y ago
> Imgur has recently started displaying a GDPR cookie notice modal I find it hilarious how companies allegedly afraid of the big bad fines by the EU continue to use a non-compliant solution for a problem they created themselves. It's cargo-culting of the stupidest way of (barely) solving the problem. American lawyers trying to interpret EU regulations never worked well it seems. > I have never stepped foot in the bloc It's not like the rest of the world doesn't have to obey several American laws as well.
- tyingq 7y ago
  Don't some countries treat the US DMCA similarly?
qubex 7y ago
I strongly disagree. There might be a tendency to over-legislate in some areas (after all, there is now an exposed central authority that can be lobbied by special interest groups) but on the whole, the EU has been a strong positive influence on the continent of Europe and Britain is facing a serious self-inflicted wound as a result of Brexit. I say this as somebody who has dual citizenship in both a EU country (Italy) and the UK.
- franga2000 7y ago
  The EU has a huge problem of people who have absolutely no idea what they're voting for. The cookie law was a very obvious example of that. The EU parliament is a mix of politicians who vote for what they want and ones who very obviously vote for whatever their party's or their corporate connections want. The moment any kind of technology is involved, the first group doesn't know what they want and so the second group can out-vote the crap out of them. So yes, they have done a lot of good, but only in fields they understand. In fields they don't, however, they are a much too powerful weapon in the hands of (effectively) the highest bidder.
  - icebraining 7y ago
    In what way is the "cookie law" a result of voting for whatever their party's or their corporate connections want? Which corporations benefit from that?
    - franga2000 7y ago
      The cookie law is so incredibly stupid and ineffective, my best explanation for it is that it was made by people who didn't actually want more privacy for users, and the ones who did, voted for it because they didn't understand how useless it was.
- jpz 7y ago
  The EU has important geopolitical reasons for existing on the continent of Europe. However, the UK does not share the history of the continental countries of being occupied by their neighbours. The compact "I surrender much of my sovereignty for security from being periodically exterminated by my neighbours" - has a very different balance on the scales for the country of the UK than it does for countries with a recent memory of occupation, that have seen large percentages of their populations dying from violence in continental wars going back centuries.
  - qubex 7y ago
    I agree with your observation that the UK has never been occupied, but disagree that the UK can afford to disregard continental matters. The UK has deployed soldiers to fight and die in continental Europe since the Middle Ages, and the last World War heralded in a period of untold suffering for civilian populations on the Home Front, all of whom were well within the reach of industrial-era weapons and legitimate targets within the remit of the doctrines of Total War. It’s not for no reason that the past 300 years of British foreign policy has revolved around the principle of ensuring that no continental power could rise up to the point of posing a threat to her navies. Admittedly, this is now truly superseded, but it should bear an impact on people’s decisions.

the_other 7y ago

The hope behind GDPR, as with the earlier "cookie law" was that businesses would respond by improving their revenue models and data practices. Instead businesses have responded by making the UX shit for their users whilst claiming they had to do it to follow the law.

_-___________-_ 7y ago
While the UX is definitely shit, GDPR has definitely improved privacy practices within the EU.

raverbashing 7y ago

> Imgur has recently started displaying a GDPR cookie notice modal I find it hilarious how companies allegedly afraid of the big bad fines by the EU continue to use a non-compliant solution for a problem they created themselves. It's cargo-culting of the stupidest way of (barely) solving the problem. American lawyers trying to interpret EU regulations never worked well it seems. > I have never stepped foot in the bloc It's not like the rest of the world doesn't have to obey several American laws as well.

tyingq 7y ago
Don't some countries treat the US DMCA similarly?

qubex 7y ago

I strongly disagree. There might be a tendency to over-legislate in some areas (after all, there is now an exposed central authority that can be lobbied by special interest groups) but on the whole, the EU has been a strong positive influence on the continent of Europe and Britain is facing a serious self-inflicted wound as a result of Brexit. I say this as somebody who has dual citizenship in both a EU country (Italy) and the UK.

franga2000 7y ago
The EU has a huge problem of people who have absolutely no idea what they're voting for. The cookie law was a very obvious example of that. The EU parliament is a mix of politicians who vote for what they want and ones who very obviously vote for whatever their party's or their corporate connections want. The moment any kind of technology is involved, the first group doesn't know what they want and so the second group can out-vote the crap out of them. So yes, they have done a lot of good, but only in fields they understand. In fields they don't, however, they are a much too powerful weapon in the hands of (effectively) the highest bidder.
- icebraining 7y ago
  In what way is the "cookie law" a result of voting for whatever their party's or their corporate connections want? Which corporations benefit from that?
  - franga2000 7y ago
    The cookie law is so incredibly stupid and ineffective, my best explanation for it is that it was made by people who didn't actually want more privacy for users, and the ones who did, voted for it because they didn't understand how useless it was.
jpz 7y ago
The EU has important geopolitical reasons for existing on the continent of Europe. However, the UK does not share the history of the continental countries of being occupied by their neighbours. The compact "I surrender much of my sovereignty for security from being periodically exterminated by my neighbours" - has a very different balance on the scales for the country of the UK than it does for countries with a recent memory of occupation, that have seen large percentages of their populations dying from violence in continental wars going back centuries.
- qubex 7y ago
  I agree with your observation that the UK has never been occupied, but disagree that the UK can afford to disregard continental matters. The UK has deployed soldiers to fight and die in continental Europe since the Middle Ages, and the last World War heralded in a period of untold suffering for civilian populations on the Home Front, all of whom were well within the reach of industrial-era weapons and legitimate targets within the remit of the doctrines of Total War. It’s not for no reason that the past 300 years of British foreign policy has revolved around the principle of ensuring that no continental power could rise up to the point of posing a threat to her navies. Admittedly, this is now truly superseded, but it should bear an impact on people’s decisions.