Ireland’s DPC set to hit Meta with record privacy fine over US data transfers

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/09/profits-a...

Well, from a taxation perspective this is still a key issue. People want their nations to get tax money from international corporations. They are extremely nationalist in this sense.

> the EU overall would gain a lot

I don't think this is an automatic good at all. The EU bodies might gain some money, perhaps even enough to move the EU Parliament a few more times in the year, lovely for the not important EU administrative employees, but that will also result in higher prices for the important people: EU citizens.

Also, I'm not sure why you think most tech companies with their HQs in Ireland don't have significant presence here?

For example, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Apple, Facebook, tiktok, linkedin,intel, ibm, oracle, dell even SAP. These are literally off the top of my head from the tech jobs Ive seen on linked in over the last while.

Now think of all the non-tech roles, all the accountants, sales, HR, tax people. There is a locus of skill sets, within a very small area, in an English speaking, European country.

I meant claiming that these tech companies are just brass plate operations just aren't true, they are a huge part of our economy.

Talk to someone from Cork and there is a good chance they know (like a family member) who had worked in Apple or EMC at some point!

If you're in a former empire, you can take advantage of the infrastructure and wealth built by that empire today. You get the roads, rail, architecture, city planning, industry. It hardly seems mentioning but most other countries also have significant natural resources or agricultural output with Europe-wide protected status for various industries and products.

You are also capable of driving, getting a train, or bus to any other European country. You have infrastructure built to handle millions upon millions of people.

Probably better weather too.

Look, I'm not saying Ireland is some sort of woebegone backwater but you have to understand it is a small country with limited natural resources that's more awkward to travel to than its neighbours. It has to do what it can to compete.

"In short, Meta can not make access to its personalized social media services contingent on accepting personalized advertising; moreover, the company was fined for having done just that, despite the fact their regulator agreed with them that that was acceptable.

I find this decision disturbing for two reasons. First, it seems unduly punitive that Meta can be fined a material amount for an approach that is not only reasonable on its face (more on this in a moment), but also one that its primary regulator agreed was appropriate. GDPR is not clear on this point, and it’s ridiculous that a company can be retroactively fined for not reading the minds of EU bureacrats.

Second, and more importantly, the fact that Meta must offer personalized social networking to users — which uses their data! — but cannot tie that to offering personalized ads — which uses their data in the exact same way, and without sharing or selling that data to advertisers — is a completely arbitrary attack on Meta’s ability to do business. Let me reiterate that point: serving a video or a post in your Facebook feed is no different from serving an ad; it is Facebook that is choosing what to serve you, not an advertiser, who has no access to users or their data. It’s all just bits, it just so happens that some of those bits make Meta money. That, apparently, is the crime here (and a callback to the Google Shopping case)."

Do you still think the EU is acting like a fair player? When in fact they are both a player and the referee? This type of behavior is exactly why there wont ever be any major innovation in the EU. And I live here btw.