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Comment by franciscop | Hacker News Reader

What a utter non-sense tone for the article!

> Europe wants to conquer the world all over again.

So Europe makes new regulations that improve the life of european people and they try to spin it up as a global domination move. As a European I am really happy that I am more protected. If a company wants to make business with me I expect them to follow the local regulations! That is not a new world order plot, cmon.

Stronger regulation some times is better when made with the citizens in mind, see the TTIP. Why would we (europeans) want to reduce our food quality regulations? Why wouldn't we want a better data protection?

Specially after Equifax scandal, I am so happy that things are changing over Europe.

Edit: specified better what I think is non-sense

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I think you got off at the tangent... the article is about the global influence in the legislation of pro-privacy laws and regulations, "conquering the world" was probably just a metaphoric joke which the author insisted way too much. Definitely the new rules had their global impact without being that a conquer.

> Europe wants to conquer the world all over again.

Politico Europe is a pretty pro-EU publication, so it would indeed be worrying if they saw a return to colonisation.

Luckily, the authors are just employing what's called a metaphor. The last sentence arguably does a better job of summing up the article's thesis:

“This is part of Europe’s exporting its soft power,” said Kuner, the co-chair of the Brussels Privacy Hub. “In terms of regulatory influence, Europe is definitely a superpower.”

This is just one line in the article--it's meant to grab the readers attention.

The rest of the article provides real substance. Silly to claim the who article is nonsense based on one line.

I would have thought the same if the rest of the article didn't try to prove how it is a world domination move (just a few examples):

> Data protection is a good example of Europe trying to extend its influence over other countries

> In response, legislators worldwide are scrambling to update their domestic legislation

> the upcoming data protection changes risks being viewed as yet another diktat handed down by former colonial powers in

> We’re already seeing a number of countries falling in line with Europe

American companies are kinda pissed, but they can always decline to do business here. Unlike the US the European Union doesn't claim to police the world.

More protected? I guess that is one way of looking at it. Like the law about the cookie popup. Brings nothing of value but you can get in trouble if you don’t have it, does it make you feel more protected?

I mostly see this as a way to fine big companies and put some money in the pocket. Also like with tax and other laws if the enforcement is delegated to the members we will have same situation like we do now with tax in Ireland or the way Volkswagen and Co. put their cars to sales first in specific countries to bypass German standards.

A lot of this also makes no sense from technology perspective, it would be easier to force browsers not to accept 3rd party cookies then to make me ruin user experience cos i have a youtube video embedded in the site.

EU learned a lot how to be a nanny state from Germans, which in a way and kills a lot of freedoms under guise of security... But I for one would rarely sacrifice freedom for security...

Really trying to tick off all the buzzwords in this one, eh? Only thing missing is probably "live free or die" while an eagle flies through the scenery.

The EU law aims at giving citizens in the European Union more control over their own data. They should be informed what a company does with their personal information and they should need to consent to it. In other words, they have a right to make a transparent, informed decision.

I don't know what this has to do with nanny states or taking away anybody's freedom. In fact this is a great tool to give individuals freedom and ownership over their data.

For example Uber has a long time habit on trying to get drivers to do what they want by using their information in ways that drivers are likely not aware of. The goal of legislation in the future must be to empower those drivers to be conscious of this and have a right to demand in what way information is used to control them.

I don't want to end up in a world of nanny businesses because we're too afraid to legislate them.

Buzzwords... like empowering? One example is that now my websites need to have full screen agreement popup for each 3rd party cookie which will not help anyone do anything. You can already set 3rd party cookie preferences in browser.

Do you think think this will stop data collection and mining in anyway?

These kinda a laws is why germany has no free wifi anywhere cos owner gets fined for anything that happens on his wifi... so good luck to find decent hotspot in Berlin for example...

There should be regulations but when they are too stiff they don’t help anyone in this case

my websites need to have full screen agreement popup for each 3rd party cookie

Oh please. Please be factual even in your rants. For one, a single notice is quite enough. And secondly, it's not about cookies, but all forms of user tagging, including e.g. browser fingerprinting, which does not require any client-side data.

Do you think think this will stop data collection and mining in anyway?

I hope not. I really look forward to those massive fines.

Single notice doesn't make it better, and sorry if my phrasing is not the best.

And it is about cookies too...

What about massive fines for small companies? Large ones will pay and continue making money off your data while the small companies will go bust for even simple mistakes.

> These kinda a laws is why germany has no free wifi anywhere cos owner gets fined for anything that happens on his wifi...

The law has changed. Since October 13th 2017 the owner of the internet access point is no longer responsible for what happens through his access as long as he doesn't collude with those, that do mischief with his access.

Yes, so do we have to have similar laws now and wait for them to backfire to take them away again?

This law has seriously impacted WiFi availability in Germany for some time.

Torrent laws are used by lawyers and scamers to send out fines to random people and scam them for money, what does a consumer get out of those laws? Nothing...

Same way this law imposes so many rules that for smaller companies it just makes things harder while the big companies will pay and forget about it.

> Torrent laws are used by lawyers and scamers to send out fines to random people and scam them for money, what does a consumer get out of those laws? Nothing...

If you are a provider of internet access for example via WiFi, and you didn't collude with the users to breach the law, and you are sent a Abmahnung by a lawyer, then you can demand them to take back the Abmahnung including any financial demands after explaining to them said situation and making credible that you weren't exclusively using your internet access. You also don't need to investigate who was the perpetrator, and no ask no tell works. If the laywers don't step back, you can sue them with a Negative Feststellungsklage.

Websites display cookie popups, therefore EU regulations are bad for individuals.

All of these are different issues.

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