3 ms·

They just want to collect a large amount of money and then call it a day. Then wait a few more months and do it again. It is just extortion but legal and with

They just want to collect a large amount of money and then call it a day. Then wait a few more months and do it again. It is just extortion but legal and with a few extra steps.

Nextgrid 4y ago
I don't think it's just a money grab operation, or at least not from an EU-wide perspective. If they were after money, there is an endless supply of GDPR offenders, some very big ones with deep pockets and blatant, obvious breaches that can't be denied/explained away. It is incompetence coupled with individual greed - some people involved want a project to make themselves feel important and justify salaries/promotions while not doing anything meaningful for the privacy of Europeans (as mentioned above, there are much bigger fish to fry than ChatGPT). Not to mention, OpenAI's potential breaches of the GDPR aren't as clear-cut as some others, so this guarantees years of salaries, while an open and shut case may only yield months of salaries as the outcome is reached pretty quickly.
jacquesm 4y ago
The EU privacy watchdog is doing its work in a pretty measured way, and has broad support among the population, at least the segment that I'm aware of. They stand between us and various companies that use our data for purposes never intended when the data was shared. The industry has had more than two decades to self regulate but instead of putting on the brakes it turned into an arms race, and the only way to stop that is to have a referee and an level playing field. If you see them as 'extortionists' then more than likely you would be on the wrong side of the line when it comes to using your users data. They do not and have never fined companies without first giving them more than one option to back down on abuse of data subjects data. I know that regulation is anathema to industry but some regulation we apparently can't do without. And even today there are still plenty of bad actors but I sincerely hope that one of these days one of them will be regulated out of business and then maybe the rest of the cowboys will realize that at least in one part of the world you need to play nice or you get thrown out. Could they do a better job? Yes, absolutely. But that would mean more, regulation, much more in fact. If my experience is any guide then even today there are still lots and lots of companies that break the law with impunity simply because they can and there isn't enough personnel to deal with it all. But personally I'm pretty happy that they've done what they have done so far, you can really see the difference between before and after.
- 29athrowaway 4y ago
  No. The biggest data hoarders are alive and well in Europe. The fines are the cost of doing business.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    So we are in agreement: more and larger fines.
    - 29athrowaway 4y ago
      For foreign companies that can pay them.

They just want to collect a large amount of money and then call it a day. Then wait a few more months and do it again. It is just extortion but legal and with a few extra steps.

Nextgrid 4y ago

I don't think it's just a money grab operation, or at least not from an EU-wide perspective. If they were after money, there is an endless supply of GDPR offenders, some very big ones with deep pockets and blatant, obvious breaches that can't be denied/explained away. It is incompetence coupled with individual greed - some people involved want a project to make themselves feel important and justify salaries/promotions while not doing anything meaningful for the privacy of Europeans (as mentioned above, there are much bigger fish to fry than ChatGPT). Not to mention, OpenAI's potential breaches of the GDPR aren't as clear-cut as some others, so this guarantees years of salaries, while an open and shut case may only yield months of salaries as the outcome is reached pretty quickly.

jacquesm 4y ago

The EU privacy watchdog is doing its work in a pretty measured way, and has broad support among the population, at least the segment that I'm aware of. They stand between us and various companies that use our data for purposes never intended when the data was shared. The industry has had more than two decades to self regulate but instead of putting on the brakes it turned into an arms race, and the only way to stop that is to have a referee and an level playing field. If you see them as 'extortionists' then more than likely you would be on the wrong side of the line when it comes to using your users data. They do not and have never fined companies without first giving them more than one option to back down on abuse of data subjects data. I know that regulation is anathema to industry but some regulation we apparently can't do without. And even today there are still plenty of bad actors but I sincerely hope that one of these days one of them will be regulated out of business and then maybe the rest of the cowboys will realize that at least in one part of the world you need to play nice or you get thrown out. Could they do a better job? Yes, absolutely. But that would mean more, regulation, much more in fact. If my experience is any guide then even today there are still lots and lots of companies that break the law with impunity simply because they can and there isn't enough personnel to deal with it all. But personally I'm pretty happy that they've done what they have done so far, you can really see the difference between before and after.

29athrowaway 4y ago
No. The biggest data hoarders are alive and well in Europe. The fines are the cost of doing business.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  So we are in agreement: more and larger fines.
  - 29athrowaway 4y ago
    For foreign companies that can pay them.