3 ms·

This fine is ridiculously small, it simply won't hurt these companies.

flipbrad 5y ago
Look again at the nature of the offence - it's not about consentless tracking (any tracking here, using cookies, was opt in). Plus, users that were concerned enough could quite easily refuse; they just couldn't do it with a single click. How much do you think they actually suffered? How big of a fine do you think something like this actually deserves (given we're just talking about French users here, not EU or global)?
- JCWasmx86 5y ago
  Given Google made 17 Billion dollar in Q1 2021 [0] in Europe/Africa/Middle East, I would say that around 2 Billion dollar would be more appropriate. Facebook made 6.5 Billion dollar in Q1 2021 [1] in Europe, so maybe around 1-1.5 Billion dollar. [0] https://businessquant.com/google-revenue-by-region https://businessquant.com/google-revenue-by-region (Didn't find a better source or one that lists the revenue for France only) [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/223279/facebooks-quarterly-revenue-in-europe/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/223279/facebooks-quarter... Edit: I tested the banners: Facebook: "More Options" -> "Allow only essential cookies" (1 click more than necessary) Google: "Anpassen" -> Switch off "Suchanpassung" -> Switch off "Youtube-Verlauf" -> Switch off "Personalisierte Werbung" -> "Bestätigen" and then there are 3 seconds of delay with progress bar. (4 clicks more than necessary + delay). This delay does not occur, if I simply press "Accept all"
  - flipbrad 5y ago
    2 billion dollars just in respect of French users having to wait a few seconds and do a few clicks?
    - thrwyoilarticle 5y ago
      Could we not be disingenuous? If the delay was meaningless, it wouldn't exist. There is a clear intention by these companies to bore or confuse people into signing their rights away. Consider how many lawyers are on payroll or retention at these companies who are aware of the requirements of the law, then consider that G/FB made a cynical, calculated decision to ignore it.
      - shukantpal 5y ago
        > There is a clear intention by these companies to bore or confuse people into signing their rights away These aren’t “rights”. There’s no confusion either. And people aren’t entitled to getting a service for free so they lost nothing. > Consider how many lawyers are on payroll or retention at these companies who are aware of the requirements of the law, then consider that G/FB made a cynical, calculated decision to ignore it. Irrelevant
        thrwyoilarticle 5y ago
        They literally are rights, they're enshrined in law
darkwater 5y ago
In Europe we have 28 nations that can fine Meta/Alphabet/etc individually. They won't shut down due to fines but 28*100M starts hurting
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  In Europe we have 28 nations that could fine these companies since 2018 when the GDPR went into effect. The question is which ones will actually bother to fine them, and the answer is "not many" given the evidence available so far.

Look again at the nature of the offence - it's not about consentless tracking (any tracking here, using cookies, was opt in). Plus, users that were concerned enough could quite easily refuse; they just couldn't do it with a single click. How much do you think they actually suffered? How big of a fine do you think something like this actually deserves (given we're just talking about French users here, not EU or global)?

JCWasmx86 5y ago
Given Google made 17 Billion dollar in Q1 2021 [0] in Europe/Africa/Middle East, I would say that around 2 Billion dollar would be more appropriate. Facebook made 6.5 Billion dollar in Q1 2021 [1] in Europe, so maybe around 1-1.5 Billion dollar. [0] https://businessquant.com/google-revenue-by-region https://businessquant.com/google-revenue-by-region (Didn't find a better source or one that lists the revenue for France only) [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/223279/facebooks-quarterly-revenue-in-europe/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/223279/facebooks-quarter... Edit: I tested the banners: Facebook: "More Options" -> "Allow only essential cookies" (1 click more than necessary) Google: "Anpassen" -> Switch off "Suchanpassung" -> Switch off "Youtube-Verlauf" -> Switch off "Personalisierte Werbung" -> "Bestätigen" and then there are 3 seconds of delay with progress bar. (4 clicks more than necessary + delay). This delay does not occur, if I simply press "Accept all"
- flipbrad 5y ago
  2 billion dollars just in respect of French users having to wait a few seconds and do a few clicks?
  - thrwyoilarticle 5y ago
    Could we not be disingenuous? If the delay was meaningless, it wouldn't exist. There is a clear intention by these companies to bore or confuse people into signing their rights away. Consider how many lawyers are on payroll or retention at these companies who are aware of the requirements of the law, then consider that G/FB made a cynical, calculated decision to ignore it.
    - shukantpal 5y ago
      > There is a clear intention by these companies to bore or confuse people into signing their rights away These aren’t “rights”. There’s no confusion either. And people aren’t entitled to getting a service for free so they lost nothing. > Consider how many lawyers are on payroll or retention at these companies who are aware of the requirements of the law, then consider that G/FB made a cynical, calculated decision to ignore it. Irrelevant
      - thrwyoilarticle 5y ago
        They literally are rights, they're enshrined in law

darkwater 5y ago

In Europe we have 28 nations that can fine Meta/Alphabet/etc individually. They won't shut down due to fines but 28*100M starts hurting

Nextgrid 5y ago
In Europe we have 28 nations that could fine these companies since 2018 when the GDPR went into effect. The question is which ones will actually bother to fine them, and the answer is "not many" given the evidence available so far.