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Comment by Aurornis | Hacker News Reader

> It also creates legal regimes to monitor, store and allow cross-border sharing of information without specific data protections. Access Now’s Raman Jit Singh Chima said the convention effectively justifies “cyber authoritarianism at home and transnational repression across borders.”

None of this sounds good for privacy and data protection.

Opting out of the treaty was probably a good choice. Opting out doesn’t preclude the US from cooperating with international cybercrime investigations, but it does avoid more data collection, surveillance, and sharing.

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Err... yeah, because that's what USA based companies are known for - PII protection and data privacy?!?

Maybe there is some more complexity to this argument, that I'm missing. But, it's not one that has merit without justification.

Well, yes. Compared to most countries that have signed this treaty, the US has excellent protections for PII and data privacy.

But that's beside the point. The most objectionable parts are about state surveillance and the potential for human rights abuses.

For example, here's what the EFF had to say about it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/effs-concerns-about-un...

At what level do you think American PII protection is working?

I can't go to a dentist/medical/eye appointment without the office staff looking me up or adding to some kind of unethical dark web profile.

Maybe the data at rest is secure but it doesn't really matter when the staff is leaking all the data as it is getting stored in their systems.

I wouldn't exactly call them "excellent", but yeah I think the big caveat is

> the US has excellent protections for PII and data privacy

*for _US nationals_ :)

actually mostly for EU nationals :)

Is your argument that because you don’t think US companies are good at PII, we need to force those companies to share their PII with 70 other countries on request?

> Maybe there is some more complexity to this argument, that I'm missing.

I think you’re missing the entire argument. Why would it be a good thing for a country to volunteer its’ companies PII through a treaty with foreign governments like Russia, North Korea, and China?

US-based companies probably have the most sophisticated PII & data privacy compliance schemes globally. Sure, that's mostly due to obligations imposed on them by jurisdictions outside of the US, but it is still true.

We're talking about privacy / data (ab)use for military purposes. Those compliance schemes you speak of matter naught.

> We're talking about privacy / data (ab)use for military purposes.

What? No, we're not. What gave you that impression?

Opting out was the right thing to do. This is Badthink monitoring in the guise of cybersecurity.

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