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Zuckerberg Warns of Authoritarian Data Localization Trend (techcrunch.com) 99

Posted by msmash from the taking-a-stand dept.
If free nations demand companies store data locally, it legitimizes that practice for authoritarian nations, which can then steal that data for their own nefarious purposes, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. From a report: He laid out the threat in a new 93-minute video of a discussion with Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari released today as part of Zuckerberg's 2019 personal challenge of holding public talks on the future of tech. Zuckerberg has stated that Facebook will refuse to comply with laws and set up local data centers in authoritarian countries where that data could be snatched. Russia and China already have data localization laws, but privacy concerns and regulations proposals could see more nations adopt the restrictions.

Germany now requires telecommunications metadata to be stored locally, and India does something similar for payments data. While in democratic or justly ruled nations, the laws can help protect user privacy and give governments more leverage over tech companies, they pave the way for similar laws in nations where governments might use military might to see the data. That could help them enhance their surveillance capabilities, disrupt activism or hunt down dissidents.
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Zuckerberg Warns of Authoritarian Data Localization Trend More

Zuckerberg Warns of Authoritarian Data Localization Trend

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  • That Data belongs to US (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 26, 2019 @02:50PM (#58497184)

    And not to those democratically elected governments or the people who put the data on our servers.
    It is MINE, MINE, MINE... All Mine!
    said the arch slurper Zuck!

    • He doesn't want governments to snatch the data (Score:5, Insightful)

      by bagofbeans ( 567926 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @03:05PM (#58497296)

      By snatch the data he means lawfully acquire the data for free by court order, subpoena etc.

      Why?

      Because he wants to sell access to the data to the same governments instead.

      This isn't a privacy or rogue nation issue. It's a monetizing issue.

      • Re:He doesn't want governments to snatch the data (Score:4, Insightful)

        by pjt33 ( 739471 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @03:41PM (#58497522)

        Because he wants to sell access to the data to the same governments instead.

        That's not the full story. I'm sure he also wants to be able to store the data in whichever country gives him the lowest minimum wage, cheapest electricity, and best tax breaks.

      • By snatch the data he means lawfully acquire the data for free by court order, subpoena etc.

        "Lawful" does not mean legitimate, or moral. Court orders and subpoenas often pry very deeply into personal lives in ways that have nothing to do with legal need. This is often intentional, as lawyers weaponize the legal system to intimidate and threaten their opponents.

        I should have the freedom to choose services based on where they store my data. As an American, America would be near the bottom of my list of safe places.

      • Yeah, it's a little late to be worrying about privacy and governments, when you did everything possible to weaken privacy and consumer/user protections when it served your interest.

  • Watch Your Language (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Kunedog ( 1033226 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @02:52PM (#58497194)

    If free nations demand companies store data locally, it legitimizes that practice for authoritarian nations, which can then steal that data for their own nefarious purposes, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. From a report:

    Whoa there, Zuck. I'm sure they'll have technically consented under the law to give their data away. You know better.

  • US (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Is the most authoritarian country on Earth, but Facebook still keeps data there.

    Care to explain???

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      [the US] Is the most authoritarian country on Earth, but ....

      Sorry, not even close.

      While the US gets criticized-- and rightfully so--for failing to live up to its promise of Freedom with a capital F, it still has orders of magnitude more freedom than the truly repressive regimes in the world-- and that's not just the ones we are taught to hate, like say mainland China, but some of the ones on our side (check out what passes for freedom in Saudia Arabia, for example.)

      • "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. â" That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"
        Declaration of Independence

        "We the People of the United States, in Order to ... secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establis

        • Be careful, I can hear people all over the place being triggered by your post! How dare you speak the truth!
      • Or even "free" places such as Germany (Can't say certain words w/o threat of prosecution), France (Can't publicly wear visibly religious icons in certain places), even Canada (Can't say anything that puts doubt on homosexuality). Remember, "freedom" is not the ability to do something you agree with--it's the ability for someone else to do something you may not agree with.
  • The only thing data localization does is cut down on his ability to spy on people and drive up his operating costs.

  • So he's moving all USA data to Russia? (Score:3)

    by misnohmer ( 1636461 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @02:59PM (#58497264)

    So he acknowledged that governments can access data stored in the their countries. I don't get why is it better to store country A data in country B? Is it better for country B to have private data of country A citizens, than country A citizens have access to country B?

    So, if he believes his own argument, I guess he's taking all of US citizens private data and storing it in Russia, the least likely place the US government will be able to get access to it?

    Or is FB building data centers in international waters with their own army to protect the servers from any government (who doesn't pay for access of course)?

  • Easy Solution: Middle Finger (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This is really, really easy Zuck. If a country demands that (and passes it), simply cut-off your users from that country. The users (citizens) of that country will help those politicians understand the situation better, or they won't. That's their problem.

    • The purpose of a corporation is to make money. Government regulation interferes with making money. Therefore corporations must actively fight all attempts to regulate corporations.

  • Good luck for future Internet businesses (Score:5, Insightful)

    by grumpy-cowboy ( 4342983 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @03:05PM (#58497300)

    All this laws (data localization, GDPR, taxes perceptions per country/state laws, ...) will just benefits big corporations (Google, FB, Amazon, Netflix, Ebay, ...) because they have a shit load of money. If I want to start a new business on the Internet, it's almost impossible for me to follow ALL local laws because I don't have the money, the man-power, the legal team, .. to help. So the Internet is just becoming a big corporations party. It time to reopen my old BBS :)

  • He doesnâ(TM)t give a shit if a government uses data to incarcerate or persecute people. Heâ(TM)s just worried about fb data being devalued if governments can access it without paying him. Itâ(TM)s so easy to play follow the money with these people anymore.

  • What? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @03:25PM (#58497418) Journal
    then steal that data for their own nefarious purposes,

    Isn't this, more or less, what Facebook and other anti-social media companies do? Steal people's data for their own nefarious purposes?

  • Nothing New (Score:5, Interesting)

    by medv4380 ( 1604309 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @03:43PM (#58497534)
    Banks used to have to process all the checks in the State that they received it in. It was a basic security measure before tech caught up, and it was meant to reduce the odds of a transaction going missing. The farther a check goes the more likely it is to get lost. I'm more concerned about my data being stored in a different country that opens it up to their laws and not the laws in which I live. Store the data in the US and I'm sure there are spooks all over it, and I'm just as certain that every country does that the moment they get the chance. A regime that wants my call metadata doesn't need access to the data center. They just tap into the infrastructure and capture it as it's transmitted. A government if far more capable of pulling off a MITM attack, but if the data is stored outside of a country of origin then that's one more government that has been added to my concerns. Zuck just wants his cut of the pie.

  • Cry me a river, FB boi.

    We said privacy and we said it wasn't optional and you decided to break the law.

  • It's too bad you can't have all that data to yourself forever, uh?

  • ...FB data localization.

  • Authoritarian nation don't need an excuse to make authoritarian laws. They do it all the time. But company like facebook need to have their data exploitation reigned in, if not they would steal and exploit everything not bolted down. So go Germany ! Force FB to respect privacy !

  • It can also mean that the government can for Zuckerburg to delete the data, so that he can't use it for HIS nefarious ends.

    • Can you really delete data that easily? Just as gun laws don't get rid of guns, laws requiring data deletion won't get that data deleted. Maybe from "moral" companies (just like the gun laws only get guns away from law-abiding folks), but if the data is that valuable to an "amoral" company it will NOT be deleted. Maybe moved somewhere else, but do you really think the data will just disappear? Really?

  • This is as bad as Hillary Clinton claiming Trump wasn't prosecuted by Mueller, because Trump was a powerful person.

    The hypocrisy is mind boggling.

    • He didn't. Mueller (despite his preferences and those of the democrat supporting lawyers he hired) couldn't find grounds to recommend any prosecution. Comey found multiple grounds to prosecute Her Royalness, but refused to recommend to do so.

  • At least he hasn't lost his sense of humor. What a clown. Seriously, LOL! I bet when they finally decide to put him in jail he sues the court for failing to sufficiently protect his privacy.

  • Store data in space. We've already established that no sovereign nation can "own" things in space. Problem solved.

  • ... steal that data for their own nefarious purposes ...

    Is this real life?

  • Stealing? You're in the business of SELLING that data for your own profit, you mthrfckr.

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