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On GDPR, it seems HN has two completely opposing reactions depending on the time since a fine has made headlines. If it's been a while, the prevailing sentiment

On GDPR, it seems HN has two completely opposing reactions depending on the time since a fine has made headlines. If it's been a while, the prevailing sentiment seems to be "the big bad EU will financially ruin me for my side project if I don't hire a full-time data protection lawyer", and when a fine is actually issued, it's "that's not even a slap on the wrist, who's going to care, lol". It's almost as if EU data protection agencies reacted proportionately to the severity of the misdeed. This is a leak affecting 4109 customers, after all, not a full compromise of booking's systems.

MaxBarraclough 6y ago
> "the big bad EU will financially ruin me for my side project if I don't hire a full-time data protection lawyer", and when a fine is actually issued, it's "that's not even a slap on the wrist, who's going to care, lol" The relevant question, then: what is the history of GDPR enforcement against small companies? Personally I have no idea, as typically only the big cases make the front-page.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  https://www.enforcementtracker.com/ https://www.enforcementtracker.com/ For example, a police officer was fined 48 euro for accessing "personal data in a police database for private research activities", a housing association was fined 500 euro for "publishing photos showing members of the association without their consent" and Borjamotor, S.A. (which appears to be a Spanish Opel dealership) was fined 4000 euro for "sending commercial advertisements to the data subject via email and SMS, even though the data subject had previously revoked his/her consent to receive advertisements and submitted a request to delete his/her data".
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    Seems like enforcement appears to be fair and the million-dollar fines that were supposed to bankrupt individuals & small businesses didn't actually happen.
  - elliekelly 6y ago
    The (Google translated) details[1] of the police officer situation are interesting. He searched his fiancé in the police database and it seems like his employer is the one who reported it to the DPA. I’m actually a bit surprised a police force would report “one of their own” for such an infraction. [1]https://n7uofv7rfwwdpbwmcuqmohfsnu-adwhj77lcyoafdy-www-aki-ee.translate.goog/et/uudised/uudishimuparing-toi-vaarteotrahvi https://n7uofv7rfwwdpbwmcuqmohfsnu-adwhj77lcyoafdy-www-aki-e...
    - jacquesm 6y ago
      Estonia has a pretty good legal/law enforcement system.
StavrosK 6y ago
It's almost as if different people have different opinions and aren't a perfectly agreeing hivemind!
Draken93 6y ago
1. People tend to write their opinion under threads that bother them. 2. HN is not a single instance but consits out of many individuals. => The "opposing reactions" are expectable.

MaxBarraclough 6y ago

> "the big bad EU will financially ruin me for my side project if I don't hire a full-time data protection lawyer", and when a fine is actually issued, it's "that's not even a slap on the wrist, who's going to care, lol" The relevant question, then: what is the history of GDPR enforcement against small companies? Personally I have no idea, as typically only the big cases make the front-page.

Hamuko 6y ago
https://www.enforcementtracker.com/ https://www.enforcementtracker.com/ For example, a police officer was fined 48 euro for accessing "personal data in a police database for private research activities", a housing association was fined 500 euro for "publishing photos showing members of the association without their consent" and Borjamotor, S.A. (which appears to be a Spanish Opel dealership) was fined 4000 euro for "sending commercial advertisements to the data subject via email and SMS, even though the data subject had previously revoked his/her consent to receive advertisements and submitted a request to delete his/her data".
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  Seems like enforcement appears to be fair and the million-dollar fines that were supposed to bankrupt individuals & small businesses didn't actually happen.
- elliekelly 6y ago
  The (Google translated) details[1] of the police officer situation are interesting. He searched his fiancé in the police database and it seems like his employer is the one who reported it to the DPA. I’m actually a bit surprised a police force would report “one of their own” for such an infraction. [1]https://n7uofv7rfwwdpbwmcuqmohfsnu-adwhj77lcyoafdy-www-aki-ee.translate.goog/et/uudised/uudishimuparing-toi-vaarteotrahvi https://n7uofv7rfwwdpbwmcuqmohfsnu-adwhj77lcyoafdy-www-aki-e...
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    Estonia has a pretty good legal/law enforcement system.

StavrosK 6y ago

It's almost as if different people have different opinions and aren't a perfectly agreeing hivemind!

Draken93 6y ago

1. People tend to write their opinion under threads that bother them. 2. HN is not a single instance but consits out of many individuals. => The "opposing reactions" are expectable.