Comment by Joeri
2 years ago
I challenge you to point out the specific paragraphs of GDPR you object to as somehow unreasonable or targeting american tech companies.
The cookie banners are a bad outcome for sure, but GDPR does not mandate them. They are an indirect result of the bureaucracy installed by GDPR which does not incentivize user-friendly design of privacy-aware features. I don’t want GDPR rolled back, even as a software developer, because I think it creates the kind of protections everyone in the world should have. But I would like a rule clarification on how to build compliant websites without cookie banners, so I blame the administration (the EU commission) but not the legislation.
The digital markets act similarly is the kind of regulation we need everywhere. It’s only hostile to online businesses because other places don’t have those kind of guard rails on the abusive behavior of big tech.
Now, as far as the EU AI act. I think that in its original intent when it was specifically targeting things like public face recognition by governments it was a very good idea, but it has been hijacked and in its current form it would be very harmful if passed. I don’t think it particularly targets american tech companies, because the biggest victims would be EU AI startups like Mistral.
Exactly, and this law is used everyday against European companies that tries to grab too much data. The US is the epitome of the surveillance society on par with China (look at how Apple wad sending push notification, or how phone companies just share your location data with the world). Here in Europe we fight by making sure that the data cannot be collected in the first place.
> The cookie banners are a bad outcome for sure, but GDPR does not mandate them
Not only that but the terrible banners you get are very often not compliant with GDPR.
> specific paragraphs of GDPR
GDPR doesn't target American tech companies, that's the DMA. Essentially, the framing is there are companies that are "gatekeepers" and then everyone else. The criteria for gatekeepers are theoretically objective, but they were written with a specific set of companies in mind. As a consequence, the designated companies except TikTok just so happen to be based in the US. Further, the rules were written such that EU firms like Spotify are not eligible.
Also, Vodafone somehow is not considered a gatekeeper in any relevant digital market.
Anyway, no judgement. We are in a time of rising protectionism. This may be good for Europe. But the DMA clearly targeted a set of West Coast US companies and it's doing what it was intended to do.
I do wish they would modify GDPR to only apply to people e.g. physically in Europe or similar. It really does make the Web worse for billions of people who are not EU nationals and derive absolutely no benefits from the banners.
While they're regulating browsers and plugs, could they make browser makers ship EU versions of their browsers that show the popups, while the rest of us save tons of clicks? EU nationals could install EU versions of their favorite browsers and the rest of us would just use the stock versions.
Isn't it mostly about companies with platforms or app stores? Vodafone isn't a gatekeeper because it doesn't have its own app store.
Vodafone is literally a core part of the Internet platform. It quite literally gates people's access to the Internet.
It's hard to say Instagram, Meta Marketplace, and TikTok are gatekeepers (they has been designated thusly by the EU) but Vodafone isn't.
The law is protectionist, which is fine in itself. But the argument that Instagram is one of the core gatekeepers of the Internet and Vodafone isn't is ridiculous on its face.
What does Spotify gatekeep? Or are you saying that Tidal, Apple Music & Deezer should also be targeted by DMA?
Netflix isn't being targeted either, so it's obviously not purposefully targeting FAANG/M$ and nothing else.
> so it's obviously not purposefully targeting FAANG/M$ and nothing else.
I did not say that anywhere.
> Or are you saying that Tidal, Apple Music & Deezer should also be targeted by DMA?
I'm just noting that it's curious that the DMA criteria were written in such a way that they exclude the largest consumer Internet company in the EU. That's it, nothing else.
> Further, the rules were written such that EU firms like Spotify are not eligible.
Spotify ain't gatekeeping anything so why do you think they should be eligible?
One could make a very similar argument about Instagram or Meta Marketplace, but they have both been designated as gatekeepers.