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Comment by jaabe | Hacker News Reader

Yes and no, the EU is more concerned with intrusion into citizen privacy from the private sector than any other large player.

As far as the public sector goes, however, the GDPR is mainly meant to increase security surrounding citizen privacy. You can’t demand to have your criminal record deleted for instance, and there is a range of privacy data like that which serves a purpose within the public sector. The EU is fine with that, and possibly more so than the US, but the EU does want to keep it safer than has previously been the case. Mostly because the European public sector didn’t meet really take these security requirements seriously enough on its own. The GDPR didn’t really change the rules for the public sector, it rather increased the penalty for not following them.

There is an old saying that in the US people trust their corporations and not their governments. It’s the opposite in Europe.

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I wouldn't go as far as to say we "trust" our governments. But having privacy tools to ensure both corporations and governments stay off the path to mass data collection on their users/citizens can only be a good thing.

It's a double-sided argument however, on one hand the EU shows some interest in privacy, but member states still allow anti-privacy laws to be introduced in the name of "security" [1].

[1] https://www.laquadrature.net/censureterro/ (French)

It is interesting though, because even at least in theory, you vote for your government but not the corporations.

You vote with your money

Yes, in capitalism theory, where individuals are rational entities that can comprehend, afford, and consider the consequences of their choices without being swayed by advertisement or their economic situation.

In practice, people buy the best value thing for now without giving much thought or as a general rule being able to comprehend the long term impact of it on their own, let alone the society as whole.

This is why we you need and have anti-trust, consumer protection, and various other laws and systems to protect consumers.

    without being swayed by advertisement or their economic situation

Are you implying that the political world is not advertising and lying all the time, and that our political choices not influenced by our economic situation ?

   In practice, people buy the best value thing for now without giving much thought or as a general rule being able to comprehend the long term impact of it on their own, let alone the society as whole

The same for politics

Except governments don't move to tax heavens or other countries when things tank. It is in the interest of governments to maintain a viable economy and society, not so for private sector. That difference alone is enough to not do this silly "if you don't trust corporations then your government is the same" bs rhetoric. We don't even need to talk about due process and duty of care.

If there wasn't a government (other problems of that aside), the corporation wouldn't have to move. Simply put, it's a clash of two worlds - as we all know.

BTW what is the corporation supposed to do? Take the bullet? Why the hell would they do that? Would you personally do that? Economic migration is absolutely normal, especially today. Are you angry that people are moving away because things tank? I suppose not. Guess what? A corporation is made up of people.

> If there wasn't a government (other problems of that aside), the corporation wouldn't have to move. Simply put, it's a clash of two worlds - as we all know.

Absolute nonsense. When a medical or economical crisis comes, do you really think that the same companies that flee from increased taxes (because of said problems) would voluntarily try to solve the problem? of course not.

   Except governments don't move to tax heavens or other countries when things tank

Yes, by definition ?.. Corporation don't move to tax heaven either, otherwise they wouldn't have people to sell to anymore.

Calling me bullshit doesn't bring anything relevant to the discussion

> Corporation don't move to tax heaven either.

What kind of joke is this? Ireland, Cayman Islands, and many other tax heavens said hello, we do exist! we are absolutely real.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_haven

What do you mean by "move" ? By "move" I mean you're not in the place you were before you "move"

You're arguing as if I was suggesting we should abolish the government. I simply said that in case of corporations, you vote with your money, which is absolutely true (basically the first law of economics - supply/demand) - I said and meant nothing about government or its abolishment nor any change of laws (I'm European). I replied to a comment saying that corporations are not voted for, not to a comment saying that antitrust laws are important.

I understood, my argument is against the very premise of said law, the notion that consumers are rationale entitles that make conscious choices, specially concerning society and long term issues.

Now, if you do agree with my idea that as a general rule, consumers are irrational individuals that don't ponder or simply comprehend the consequences of their choices (not least because they're fools but because of the complexity of markets and supply chains) , specially on a social level, or are forced to make choices as a result of their economic standing; then the idea of consumers voting for companies becomes some kind of a caricature mocking the notion of voting and choice.

It would also mock what you're saying about governments. Why would people working for gvt be better than us at making those kind of choices ?

  consumers are rationale

You don't need to suppose that for supply and demand

I don't think that consumers are that irrational.

Or for many of the organizations in question with your privacy

Basically money - it is in place of a monetary payment and is "converted" to money by the corporation. IMO it's interesting to see how low value privacy has for most people, while the value of the data is huge for a corporation.

I think the more nuanced issue here is around consent and understanding, specially the consequences of. I dare say majority of people don't understand or even think about it.

You buy stuff from corporations everyday, at least in theory.

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