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Comment by Capricorn2481 | Hacker News Reader

A lot of EU countries are also in "big eyes" esque spying agreements. The occasional story of a privacy law being enforced doesn't change that

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Facebook is not the government so even if what you say is true, it's really off-topic. Being protected from businesses violating your privacy is a good thing.

The reason why Facebook transferring data to the US is illegal in the EU is because its spy agencies and law enforcement can force them to turn over data.

It's not off topic at all.

And the United States can't? Facebook is part of PRISM, and they are incorporated in America. They are arguably in a more compromised state when operating domestically than abroad.

That's not the argument I would go with, but you could. I would argue that the EU has more oversight into its spy agencies and can reign them in if wrongdoing comes to light, whereas they have little to no control over those in the US.

Can EU governments force companies to turn over data? If not, then you are talking about what EU governments do secretly. That's a different topic.

It's not off topic. You said:

> unlike the US they largely enjoy that right thanks to laws which are enforced

This is categorically not true.

This isn't about protecting users from spying. This is about managing user data and privacy in accordance with the laws that privately-owned businesses must abide by. You can claim that it's a double-standard, but it's still wrongdoing and needed to be sorted out either way.

Funnily enough, country that is biggest on that recently left EU...

But not because the EU didn't like their spying.

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