After GDPR this simply makes no sense.
Basically the EU is saying, companies can't do it... but we can!
Basically the EU is saying, companies can't do it... but we can!
That's why it's a bit hypocritical on their part.
GDPR was about EU citizens rights and privacy. In fact they uphold public institutions to these standards, and have issued fines.
How is that hypocritical. We allow the state to have organized groups with automatic weapons and tanks, and don't allow private individuals or corporations to.
Is that the path you're choosing to go: that everything is justifiable because governments can have nuclear reactors and you can't?
But I'll go the extra mile: it's hypocritical because it's a citizen right within EU, it's a double standard, and it's being enforced on public/private organizations. You can't have rights and not have rights at the same time, you either have them or you don't.
In EU there are no rights for owning automatic weapons, nuclear reactors, organized armed groups, etc etc.
My point is that hypocrisy is a strange argument, because we already have a huge amount of things that the government can do, even if they would otherwise violate property rights/freedom of movement/etc, that private entities cannot.
After years of propaganda, debates and discussion for data protection and privacy rights for EU citizens, and approving such rights by law, you don't think it's hypocrisy that they approve a law that strips citizens from such rights.
They believe people have the right to have their data protected and to know what data is being collected, and demand collectors and processors to not hoard data and take only what is necessary. This is literally bulk collecting of chat logs and process them, without people consent.
I still don't get your point, there are no rights for citizens to use force, detain others or take land. At least in the EU countries I know. So what rights are being stripped from citizens?
It's the same if the USA government said they will abide by the people's rights to own weapons, but decided to ban the sales of all weapons so people can't buy them.
Which isn't to say it's the right move. I'm just saying your argument here is weak.
There is in fact a battle right now over who has primacy here. Allegedly it is everyone against Poland, but the details are more nuanced.
And it's not just that, I've seen first hand that even internal communication about customers are treated with more care as they can legally request all their data.
If there is some temporary marginal privacy benefit for users, it is a side effect.
Seems like data control was just the first step to data management.