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There are two kinds of people: those who want to make the world a better place and those who want to make enough money to afford to not care.
"naive", and "realistic", respectively.
Id call “naive” and “worthless for mankind”
Who knows how many were calling the founding fathers naives
I really hope the fog will lift one day and you'll see the actual impact of facebook (and others), here's one example https://www.afterbabel.com/p/international-mental-illness-pa...
i already agree with you but if you ever come across me again on here please don't try to evangelize at me
The world runs on WhatsApp and billions use Facebook to keep in touch with their family and friends. Instagram is also a huge part of the social component of the internet.
The bigger problem here is that the EU offers no pathway to companies offering free-to-use, expensive-to-run services online.
If GDPR was interpreted as the EU would like it, everything from WhatsApp to Maps to YouTube would switch to paid-only.
A horde of startups would take up the banner, and as soon as they ran out of VC money, they too would need to switch to paid-only business models in order to adhere to GDPR.
The EU does not understand how to run a successful tech industry.
Edit: Non-targeted ads do not lead to break even. This law will simply lock most poor people out of the internet.
You can still serve ads in the EU. Literally nothing is stopping you from doing that.
> If GDPR was interpreted as the EU would like it, everything from WhatsApp to Maps to YouTube would switch to paid-only.
This is a lie. And GDPR should be interpreted exactly the way EU wants it to be interpreted because it's an EU law.
> and as soon as they ran out of VC money, they too would need to switch to paid-only business models i
Oh wow. "Companies should actually be profitable and not run on unlimited VC money" is such a radical concept.
> The EU does not understand how to run a successful tech industry.
Where "successful tech industry" is "hope there's unlimited VC money so that we can keep running our 'free' business while harvesting all available data on everyone because it's our God-given right"?
Irrelevant. Normal ads are barely profitable. Your company will not be able to provide services to users if it had to depend on just normal ads.
> This is a lie. And GDPR should be interpreted exactly the way EU wants it to be interpreted because it's an EU law.
I don't really care about what the EU thinks is right. The EU does not understand what it takes to run a modern web service. It's sensible to fight these absurd rulings in court.
You can consent to drugs or alcohol but can't consent to targeted ads. It's insane.
> Oh wow. "Companies should actually be profitable and not run on unlimited VC money" is such a radical concept.
That profit can be obtained either with targeted ads or locking poor people out of the internet. Those are your options.
> Where "successful tech industry" is "hope there's unlimited VC money so that we can keep running our 'free' business while harvesting all available data on everyone because it's our God-given right"?
How much VC money does Google use again?
This is a blind law that pays no attention to the practicality of running services the world relies on.
Proof?
> The EU does not understand what it takes to run a modern web service.
Demagoguery
> That profit can be obtained either with targeted ads or locking poor people out of the internet. Those are your options.
False dichotomy based on feelings
> How much VC money does Google use again?
These are literally your words: "A horde of startups would take up the banner, and as soon as they ran out of VC money".
Also, Google was extremely immensely profitable in the era before large-scale data harvesting.
> This is a blind law that pays no attention to the practicality of running services the world relies on.
Demagoguery. "We can't exist without large-scale invasive and pervasive tracking" is not a given. It's a narrative pushed by the industry with literally zero proof.
If your business for some reason cannot exist without that, good riddance.