Google, Facebook In EU Probe Over User Data (mercurynews.com) 14
European officials have launched a "preliminary" investigation into Facebook and Google in order to determine how people's information is used for ad purposes. The Mercury News reports: The European Commission, which oversees antitrust issues for the European Unions, said it has opened a preliminary investigation into Facebook and Google in order to determine if the two companies are adhering to new regulations meant to give individuals more power over how their personal information is used by social networks and other tech companies. That law, called General Data Protection Law (GDPR), went into effect across the European Union in 2018. "The Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of our preliminary investigations into Google's and Facebook's data practices," said an EC spokesperson in a statement given to this news organization. "These investigations concern the way data is gathered processed used and monetized, including for advertising purposes. The preliminary investigations are ongoing." A Google spokesperson said in a statement, "We use data to make our services more useful and to show relevant advertising, and we give people the controls to manage, delete or transfer their data. We will continue to engage with the Commission and others on this important discussion for our industry."
Facebook didn't comment on the matter.
Facebook didn't comment on the matter.
great so... (Score:4, Interesting)
while the EU commission likes fines personally I would prefer legislation that means the data is portable that includes the profiling data...
for example if you take all your connections data out of facebook at the moment then you do not receive your contacts actual details i.e. phone number or email address they use to sign in
this makes it impossible to setup a rival social network since people can not establish those connections
(facebook might hide behind privacy on this case but they previously allowed yahoo access to that data to populate address books... So really allowing "friends" by default to have the email address would not be a change... they could opt people out)
advertiser Profile wise it would be very interesting how they are targeting and allow the ability to delete that data...
allowing data portability and actual access should be the goal but I'm going to guess its actually a fine...
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
That's really a tangential issue.
The problem with companies like Facebook and Google is that they have a long history of illegal data harvesting, collecting data on people who have not even signed up to their services. Even those who have signed up they have taken data illegally from, for example, for a long while the Facebook website asked me to fill in my phone number, but the text box it provides to do so is pre-populated with my phone number, they know they need my permission to hold this data, yet it's
You are missing the point. (Score:2)
This is about those companies abusing that information to gain power over you.
E.g. to manipulate you into losing money on things that are sub-optimal or harmful to you. (Like losing money is already.)
You seem to think that if we knew everything about you, all would be fine. . .
. .
With corporations that, if necessary even literally, put exponential explosive profits above human lives and the existence of any life on this planet. And are forcef by shareholders to do so too.
. .
May I introduce Cardinal Richelie
Re:great so... (Score:4, Informative)
There is already legislation for that. GDPR includes a data portability clause which means they have to let you export your data in a reasonable format.
The main issue at the moment is that it's often impossible if you don't have an account. I had to take Paypal, Apple and Facebook to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to get them to hand over my data without having an account first.
The issue here is that Facebook isn't handing over all the data it is legally required to, it is withholding some.
Free to take your freedom. (Score:2)
Free to murder you.
Free to enslave you.
Strange, how.clearly, you seem to "want" that.
Are you even a person?
Honestly. I really don't know.
Re:Invest in the EU (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you missed the current world.
it is:
Invest in the EU get taxed and investigated if/when people complain.
Invest in the USA and get mired in trade wars.
Invest in China and lose all your intellectual property.
Invest in Russia and be forced to install spyware
Invest in Most of Latin America and see the markets tank as normal.
Invest in India and be forced to pay a lot in bribes and such to get anything done
and so on..
Re: (Score:1)
All that free ad money gets collected up in EU nation tax
Hate to tell ya... (Score:2)
... but you never "owned" "intellectual property" in the first place. The concept was literally made up, for media distribution companies to keep their dead business model after things became digital, of treating information like a physical good so they could keep stealing and leeching off money from creative people (yes, engineers too) and their consumers, mostly in order to, and I have that on my personal witness accounts, could keep the cocaine flowing into their noses. But also for prostitutes and orgie
You know you are the victim here, right? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Global brand" seems to be your code for "trample ALL the rights, poison the planet, and enslave the population", or in one psychopath-libertarian word "freedom".
I know this is not the case in the US, and not often the case in the EU either, but the GDPR couldn't be more pro-citizen, pro-consumer, pro-YOU.
Its very point is to protect you from the harm that comes to you, when the above psychopath-libertsaians have the spying and peeping 'freedom' to know enough about you, so they have power over you.
In other words, it protects your *freedom* from their 'freedom'.
It boggles the mind, how some US citizens have been brainwashed to cheer for and defend their own biggest enemy against their own interests and rights.
Look, the government is YOUR corporation in this 'free' market. You are the shareholder! You demand returns!
I'm sorry if this is not the case for your government, which, like ours mostly too, is staffed with moles of the enemy.
That isn't the fault of the concept of a democatic government though. That is because you believe the world is fine and dandy and politicians are just stupid, not possibly evil lobbyists, and because you believe having a limited set of pre-chosen choices to vote for, that all^Wboth work for the enemy, means you got to vote and this is still a democracy.
Take back your government!
Don't vote for a politician! BECOME a politician!
Don't let them lobby. BECOME your own lobbyist! (Actually phyiscally meet with politicians, for a coffee, dinner, interview, whatever. If lobbyists can say and do things to achieve that, even if not true, then so can you.)
Is this fuckin gonna be a democracy or not? You decide.
Include Amazon too! (Score:4, Insightful)
The crazy shit they are doing, over in the US (e.g. the Ring camera totalitarian nightmare), warrants having a very close eye on them at all times.
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately they sell Ring cameras in the UK too. If any of my neighbours get one they are getting hit with GDPR requests until they remove it.