UK data cops to Google: You've got three months to sort out privacy

Discussion in 'privacy general' started by asr, Jul 5, 2013.

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  1. asr

    asr Registered Member

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  2. Janus

    Janus Registered Member

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    Hi
    We need some aggressive international accepted watch dogs/ and rules out there,( or another solution) to take care of our privacy on the net. To give a better balance of the information flow and how the information collected is used. In my perspective it is just like the wild west out there, at the moment. Where the big players can do what they want, more or less. It is for me not a question about total privacy or not, but a question about creating a balance.

    Regards, Janus
     
  3. ZeroDay

    ZeroDay Registered Member

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    It wouldn't surprise me if Google just took a fine, payed it and carried on regardless.
     
  4. Janus

    Janus Registered Member

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    That's a valid point Zeroday, and it seems to me, that if you are just big enough, then you have more advantages. A fine is not enough if someone has collected sensitive informations, without proper examination of national regulations. We need to sit down around the table and rethink a common set of international rules, regarding using and collection of information from the net.
     
  5. akh

    akh Registered Member

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    The European Parliament of the EU is currently deliberating over a new Data Protection Regulation which would achieve what you say across the EU affecting roughly 500 million people. However, several proposed amendments through aggressive lobbying by corporations and foreign governments threaten to significantly weaken the privacy rights of citizens as this recent report by Privacy International points out.

    It is also unclear how the NSA leak will affect this legislation. On the one hand, Prism and the bugging of EU offices has taken European media attention away (and thus public scrutiny) from this important issue for EU citizens; on the other, it may serve to emphasise precisely the need for strong data protection laws.

    I would encourage EU citizens and anybody interested to read Privacy International's website on the issue: https://www.nakedcitizens.eu/
     
  6. Mman79

    Mman79 Registered Member

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    That's usually what they do. Up until the whole PRISM mess, I would have said I wish the U.S would give a damn about user privacy like Europe portrays to..then we found out that Europe is no better.

    Anyway, Google has been slapped on the wrist enough times now that they know whatever heat they get on them will quickly die down and they can get away with pretty much whatever they want.
     
  7. ZeroDay

    ZeroDay Registered Member

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    :thumb: Ahh to be rich and powerful.
     
  8. Taliscicero

    Taliscicero Registered Member

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    You employ law to force the shutdown of the Google servers in the country they are violating the privacy laws in. This tactic means that eventually Google would have to host in countries like the Philippines or somewhere in Europe where the internet infrastructure cannot handle the flow of information Google uses. Effectively this would destroy the reliability of the company and people would stop using it. Imagine being in America and streaming your YouTube videos from the Philippines, you would be lucky to get 720p working without stuttering. Kick Google Servers out of countries that they do not respect privacy laws of and you solve your problems.
     
  9. ZeroDay

    ZeroDay Registered Member

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    I do think that Google are heading for a big fall sooner or later.
     
  10. akh

    akh Registered Member

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    Hi Taliscicero,

    The standard response to your proposed solution would be this: These large corporations contribute a great deal of money to the Exchequer through tax in addition to employing workers, however, seeing as Google paid £6m in corporation tax in the UK in 2012 despite a £2.5 billion turnover (which equates to an effective tax rate of 2.4%, as opposed the UK's corporation tax rate at the time of 28%), it becomes rather more difficult to justify the presence of these companies from an ethical standpoint. :D
     
  11. Mman79

    Mman79 Registered Member

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    Oh no no, Google will be around a long long time. You have to remember, they get their money from advertising, which isn't even the subject of their various brushes with regulators. Chrome, Gmail and every other Google service (perhaps except for search) could go away tomorrow and Google wouldn't be in any more danger of dying than they are today. Besides, how are they going to fall from government chiding when they're one of the biggest assets to the government? Most of these slaps are simple public displays for the citizens to feel warm and fuzzy. Any punishments they give out are toothless and mean squat. The government needs Google, they won't let them fall.
     
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