Facebook Fined Record $1.3 Billion Over EU User Data Transfers to the US

[imnotthewalrus]

It’s 4:29 AM, I woke up to write:

-The fine should have been $10.3 Billion Dollars.
-Never Ever TRUST Facebook.
-Shut down Facebook to save Humanity.

It concerns me that you would - literally - lose sleep over anything Meta...

 

[Col4bin]

Classic whataboutism response. Chinese privacy invasions are very much being looked at as well, most of those are just more difficult to track and block.

Not with the Chinese government funneling dollars into U.S. policitcans’ back pockets. Wake up.

 

[contacos]

The main issue is the US government's refusal to give credible assurances about respecting european users' data privacy on US soil, reserving the right to invade it whenever they feel like it.

That is why the ludicrous Privacy Shield agreement was correctly found to be worthless as was its equally pointless successor: Both were just PR fig leaves without any actual effect.

That’s what I was trying to say but you worded it better haha

 

[WiiDSmoker]

Wonder how many people cheer for this while say the EU oversteps when it comes to Apple

 

[constructor]

Not with the Chinese government funneling dollars into U.S. policitcans’ back pockets. Wake up.

That is not relevant to EU decisions.

But even in the US chinese competition and intrusion has become an electorally relevant issue even so.

 

[tridley68]

Good glad this happen to them think they will learn probably not just keep hitting them with fines and monitor them more closely or shut them down for good that's a step in the right direction

 

[steve09090]

Wonder how many people cheer for this while say the EU oversteps when it comes to Apple

For privacy?

 

[constructor]

But it isn't as simple as that.

Yes, it mostly is. That is the fundamental part in "fundamental human rights"!

We could go scorched earth in the name of privacy and eliminate ALL data collection that isn't explicitly agreed to, but we'd cause far more harm than we'd solve with such a unilateral and simplistic view.

There are pragmatic and plausible exceptions such as collection of as much data as is required to conduct a business relationship which has been initiated by a customer, who thus is aware of and agrees to the commercial entity having the data needed to perform the requested services.

But data beyond that requires the explicit and effective consent of the person, and forced consent to convoluted terms of service are not effective consent.

And the same principle applies to governmental interactions with citizens.

This cuts off exactly the previously widespread abuse of personal data while preserving legitimate business and administrative relations.

Giving each person (not even just EU citizens, but all EU residents, in a crucial difference to general US legislation!) the right to control their own personal information is a crucial element of personal freedom which every human should enjoy!

And austrian activist Max Schrems has tested these rights up to the highest courts and won his cases for all of us!

 

[amaze1499]

Shut up Facebook. Payback time.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Sure are lots of thoughts that FB should die, and Google, and MS, and... MR? Unless you live with no data being transferred you are part of the modern and entertaining world. I still don't understand why anyone would be influenced by any commercials, product placement, influencers, musicians, actors, etc. Make decisions on your own. It's really simple. Says a retired analytical scientist sitting in Europe for the standard three hour lunch (and on my fifth wine). Got that social media/data collectors. Lol.

I just like using things that work really well for my benefit. If it doesn't help you, don't use it.

 

[cocky jeremy]

This can have a huge impact on other companies as well. Google Analytics for example is already deemed illegal in the EU, yet businesses keep using it. Technically Office 365 or Teams would not even be allowed. I am sure even Apple is sending some data like the IP to the US (and yes, the EU deems an IP personal data)

I'll love the day they piss off these tech companies enough to leave. Imagine the place with no Apple, Google, or Microsoft. Good luck getting any decent technology.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The EU's focus is on regulation and they're rather ignorant on innovation, which is why they often don't see foresee the problems their regulatory flexing creates until it's way too late and innovation has moved elsewhere.

It almost reads like they’re not saying “stop collecting data”, they’re saying stop collecting/storing it in the US where the US government can get to it. They’re, in effect, fine if some “other” government can get to it as long as the companies collecting/storing the data just aren’t in the US. 🙂

As with many things related to this type regulation, it’s mainly about how they can still make money on companies that, due to the regulatory regime of certain regions, are reluctant to do some of the work they do in those regions.

 

[JungleNYC]

I'm not a Facebook fan at all, but the EU is a big problem. Do they actually help anything? Or just provide an unnecessary layer of regulatory Karen?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

But it isn't as simple as that.

We could go scorched earth in the name of privacy and eliminate ALL data collection that isn't explicitly agreed to, but we'd cause far more harm than we'd solve with such a unilateral and simplistic view.

There'a always a line to be drawn, because life isn't about a single priority. It's an amalgamation of countless priorities and it's society's job how to best balance them all.

I'll love the day they piss off these tech companies enough to leave. Imagine the place with no Apple, Google, or Microsoft. Good luck getting any decent technology.

I would prefer that companies don't make their money on monetizing user data without explicit and a 100% revokable agreement with said individual. Every single company that does could cease to exist, and I wouldn't shed a tear.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I'll love the day they piss off these tech companies enough to leave. Imagine the place with no Apple, Google, or Microsoft. Good luck getting any decent technology.

There DOES appear to be a decently long list of products/services provided by Apple that are only available in the US. They don’t have to leave, because it’s a decent chunk of change. BUT, there’s no laws saying that ALL their future products have to be offered there.

What will be their regulation then? “While we’ve previously ruled that Apple are a dangerous monopoly, we want more of their dangerous monopoly type products, so they will be fined for every product they release outside the region but not IN the region…. oh I don’t know 70% of their worldwide profits? Yeah, that sounds good.”

 

[asdfjkl;]

It’s 4:29 AM, I woke up to write:

-The fine should have been $10.3 Billion Dollars.
-Never Ever TRUST Facebook.
-Shut down Facebook to save Humanity.

I was going to say the only thing missing from this announcement was some zeros.

 

[constructor]

It almost reads like they’re not saying “stop collecting data”, they’re saying stop collecting/storing it in the US where the US government can get to it. They’re, in effect, fine if some “other” government can get to it as long as the companies collecting/storing the data just aren’t in the US. 🙂

Nope. GDPR applies to all entities operating within the EU in whole or via subsidiaries.

EU businesses just knew they would need to adjust and the ones trying to use US-backed services as a loophole now see that this evasion technique doesn't work either.

As with many things related to this type regulation, it’s mainly about how they can still make money on companies that, due to the regulatory regime of certain regions, are reluctant to do some of the work they do in those regions.

If Facebook stopped operating within the EU that would be a massive net benefit!

See the correlation of Facebook usage and extremist political incidents due to their algorithms actively driving people towards ever more extreme indoctrination in order to keep "engagement" up to their own commercial benefit!

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I still don't understand why anyone would be influenced by any commercials, product placement, influencers, musicians, actors, etc.

As a retired analytical scientist, you don’t understand how people are influenced?

 

[I7guy]

The EU is really on a course to encourage American tech companies to do business there.

 

[contacos]

Assuming MacRumors is using the Google Tag Manager for Google Analytics, they are breaking EU law as well 😉

Is Google Analytics illegal? Several European Data Protection Authorities say so

Google Analytics is illegal according to the Austrian, French, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and other European Data Protection Authorities.

plausible.io

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Nope. GDPR applies to all entities operating within the EU in whole or via subsidiaries.

EU businesses just knew they would need to adjust and the ones trying to use US-backed services as a loophole now see that this evasion technique doesn't work either.

No,

has been ordered to suspend the transfer of data from users in the EU to the United States.

They have NOT been ordered to suspend the collection of data, which is an important distinction. As long as the data is collected and deleted according to GPDR rules, they don’t have a problem with collection. One would have to believe that the US Government is, in some way, more capable than the EU government to think that they would not be able to use the infrastructure to have the same access the US government did.

If Facebook stopped operating within the EU that would be a massive net benefit!

Not for the millions of folks USING Facebook. And Facebook are not going to stop operating, they’re just going to use EU companies to store the data (which brings some of the money back into the EU, which is the core purpose of the regulation).

 

[Luap]

What with the EU supposedly being a customs and trade organisation, this isn't really their business to interfere with. Still, it's amazing what they do consider to be their business once they see some money.. They love it!

[edit] Lots of people disagree that the EU is a customs and trade org? Well, that is what it was supposed to be 😉

 

[sflagel]

No doubt this ruling can (and in all likelihood will) have some unintended consequences.

The EU's focus is on regulation and they're rather ignorant on innovation, which is why they often don't see foresee the problems their regulatory flexing creates until it's way too late and innovation has moved elsewhere.

It's perfectly OK to criticise EU regulation on data privacy (and EU regulations in general, they are mostly terrible). I despair at Germany where very few streets are captured by StreetView; but Meta cannot just ignore a law because they don't agree with it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The EU is really on a course to encourage American tech companies to do business there.

I was reading a story recently about the downfall of Philips, which used to be massive in the international tech world and I think it was the last large tech company based in an EU region. They can’t even keep companies that are FOUNDED in the EU, in the EU.

 

[constructor]

I'm not a Facebook fan at all, but the EU is a big problem. Do they actually help anything? Or just provide an unnecessary layer of regulatory Karen?

GDPR is effectively a massive boost of our personal freedom via european legislation – normally this would belong among the first articles of a constitution, but constitutions are less fluid and less adaptable to changing circumstances so this is how it was done, and consistently EU-wide.

The EU has indeed been a massive boon for the continent, for businesses and especially for its citizens: EU-internal borders are no longer keeping countries, supply chains and people apart; Harmonized EU regulations are the same across the continent so it is massively simpler to live and to sell across borders and even overall due to easy and fast trade across the continent.

EU regulations have generally replaced mountains of inconsistent national legislations, not added to them, so the overall result is simpler, not more complicated. (In many cases european regulations are to be implemented nationally, but the core regulation is still consistent across the continent this way, just adapted to the respective national framework. Of course some of those national implementations are more sensible and straightforward than others.)

And the EU bureaucracy is actually very small and lightweight in relation to the 450 million citizens it is working for.

Of course there is plenty of space to squabble about EU policies just as on any other level, but overall the EU makes a lot of sense and makes our lives and work a lot easier on the whole.

And many worker and citizen rights are nowadays based on EU regulations, too, as is the case with GDPR.