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Comment by simion314 | Hacker News Reader

If you respect the hardest privacy laws everywhere then you are fine, if you want to have different code paths like this guys in EU I can't spam them, I can't store private data without permissions but the other guys there I can do whatever I want but the other guys I can only do X but not Y, I suggest to just respect the best/strongest privacy law, a good product is one that helps people do their work and gain more free time, I do not see how invading privacy will affect good products. P.S. I am wondering what laws made it so today most emails have an Unsubscribe link at the bottom, this is such a good thing, I would hate some companies not adding it for the countries where it is not mandatory.

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The law in the US is the CAN-SPAM act in 2003. It requires email to have unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email and to take people off the list within 10 days of a request. There are similar laws, many of them stricter, in different jurisdictions.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can...

Thank you for the information, I think the anti regulation people appreciate this law.

This might work for the "privacy" topic in isolation, but I think the GP's point still stands. Laws are much more complex than a one-dimension easy-to-hard scale, and frequently plainly contradict each other. How does your right to be forgotten square with my right to protest your misdeeds? How does stopping fake news square with protecting free speech? Right to offend vs right not to be offended?

Each nation makes its own decisions about that, with a lot of overlap but also a lot of non-overlap. And internet businesses will more and more have to navigate all that, or opt out of foreign markets. Just like non-internet businesses.

I understand your point and yes it can be problematic in some countries, the solution is to not make business in the countries where local law contradicts most of the world and your believes. My opinion is that we should not give up on creating rules that help the consumer because some company will have a harder time, I understand is hard for a startup to build an airplane or a car because of safety regulation but those are necessary for the society at large. If EU will demand that your product comes with a warranty and US does not demand it you have the choice not to sell in EU or make a better product. Back to software, as long as companies will find new ways to abuse the users the users will demand laws to get protected, the problem is the laws differ from country to country or appear later in other country, could the industry find a way to prevent the abuses to happen?

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