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Data Protection Commission fines Google €403M over processing of location data

79 points · 39 comments · DeepLogin

tempodox · 1790030946 · focus · HN ↗
They need to multiply by 100 to move that fine out of “cost of doing business” range.
1. mistrial9 · 1790031198 · focus · HN ↗
  there might be an oversight component of the settlement that is not prominent in the press releases
  1. tremon · 1790033908 · focus · HN ↗
    This is a judgement from the DPC in Ireland, which has a history of reluctance [0] when it comes to enforcing the GDPR on US corporations, e.g. in [1] they even had to be ordered by a court to start investigating. I don't see the Irish DPC voluntarily choosing to take on more oversight here.
    [0] <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/09/ireland-fails-to-enforce-eu-law-against-big-tech/" rel="nofollow">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/09/ireland-fails-to...
    [1] <a href="https://cooltechzone.com/news/court-irish-dpa-must-investigate-noyb-complaint" rel="nofollow">https://cooltechzone.com/news/court-irish-dpa-must-investiga...
2. ocdtrekkie · 1790033986 · focus · HN ↗
  They just need to ban these companies from operating in their countries. They are fundamentally burdens on society run by bad people.
  Your best case scenario with fines is getting them into the narrow definition of compliance just until a new "innovation" gives them a different way to conduct the same abuse while evading the letter of previous judgments.
  1. autoexec · 1790036120 · focus · HN ↗
    This works best when you've got the ability to opt out of using those companies. If there's no meaningful replacement for a company's services or the entire internet is infested by it to the point where it's unavoidable a ban isn't going to do much good.
    What would a ban on Google look like if people still want to email others using gmail accounts, watch youtube, or use android devices? What would a ban on cloudflare look like when all of your nation's traffic passes through them? One way or another these companies will end up with vast amounts of your people's data and the EU should be able to hold them accountable somehow for holding, selling, or using it in ways that violate their laws. Fines are pretty much the only lever they have to pull.
  2. flir · 1790036735 · focus · HN ↗
    Result would be Balkanizing the internet. The cure might be worse than the disease.
3. autoexec · 1790035820 · focus · HN ↗
  They should multiply by 100 and then by another 100 with each violation. That'd help prevent companies from racking up fine after fine after fine. The real solution is to lock executives behind bars, but if the CEO is a citizen of another country you're kind of stuck with fines and bans

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