Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

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Kasey Chang
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Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Kasey Chang »

I operate a couple blogs, and with all the bruhaha over GPDR (somebody sued Google for, what? 8 billion?) I thought I'd look into it.

After reading through about 10 articles, I can conclude this is just the most bull**** nanny-state piece of legislation I've seen. Basically, European Union wants to "help" their citizens stay secure online by making practically speaking, EVERY website in the world (from the lowliest blog to giants like Google and Amazon) to specify EVERY BIT of data they gathered on the individual, WHY the website need it, and how can the user purge it if he ever wanted to.

My blog has no membership, just ads from Adsense and Amazon, (and Google Analytics) but my "updated privacy policy" still came out to be 2800 words.
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Jag
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Jag »

It's definitely extreme, but companies have been so fast and loose with people's information for so long, it's not a bad thing that they are updating privacy policies and restricting use of personally identifiable information. We are doing GDPR compliance internally and it's a pain in the ass. The reason it is so serious is that a single penalty can be 2% of revenue. There are legions of people just waiting to push the lawsuit button and reap the rewards from non-compliance.
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Daehawk
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Daehawk »

Wondered why Ive been getting a lot of updated agreements to look at in my emails.
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Zarathud
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Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Zarathud »

Why do you collect user information on a blog with no members? If you are accepting ad money, then that's your choice. Anyway, 2% of 0 = 0.
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Kasey Chang
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Kasey Chang »

I don't. But comments contain user data too. And if they send me any email... AND I have to tell them to go to Adsense or Amazon or such if they want to erase those preferences. Dot the i's and cross the t's and all that.
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Pyperkub
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Pyperkub »

And a look at the value of GDPR:
we decided to test the system. A team of nine Engadget reporters in London, Paris, New York and San Francisco filed more than 150 subject access requests -- in other words, requests for personal data -- to more than 30 popular tech companies, ranging from social networks to dating apps to streaming services. We reached out before May 25th -- when previous laws for data access existed in the EU -- as well as after, to see how procedures might have changed.

The EU has had a data-protection directive since 1995, yet studies have repeatedly shown that its rights weren't well-enforced. The GDPR has been law since 2016, yet it only grew teeth this May, with companies now open to fines of up to 4 percent of global annual revenue....

...When we ask companies for all the data and profiling they do on us and they provide us back only the data we've given to them, they may not only be omitting stray details but also furthering the idea that this is all that our personal information is used for. We might think we're trading our data for a service we can see -- inputting our location to Google Maps, getting directions to the cinema -- but how companies process that data is more opaque -- tracking our location to tell others how busy the theater is or which roads to avoid. (Google, it was recently revealed, will even track where you are when you turn location sharing off.) Facebook has also come under fire for researching both how to manipulate users' emotions and (separately) how to identify when they're in psychologically vulnerable states. Just recently, we learned it's giving users reputation rankings too -- naturally without explaining how they're calculated. In short, data is our currency, but we often don't know how much we're truly paying.
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Kraken »

I haven't looked into it for Curio City because I'm closing the store by January. I'm such small fry that I probably don't need to CYA before that happens. Curio City uses Google Analytics and Sunshop cookies.

My Blue Hills site isn't collecting any info that I know of, and it's not monetized in any way.

I'm assuming that Google has my blog's back, since it's on Blogspot. I rarely update it anymore anyway, and AdSense never pays me anything. In fact I wasn't even sure it was still displaying ads until I turned off my ad blockers and checked. I suppose I should just remove AdSense to be safe.
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gameoverman
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by gameoverman »

specify EVERY BIT of data they gathered on the individual, WHY the website need it, and how can the user purge it if he ever wanted to.

How is this unreasonable? Someone has to write the code to gather the data right? So then it's a piece of cake to write a list of the data being gathered. And if you're gathering data, you know why you're gathering it right? So it's a piece of cake to write that down too. And how hard can it be to have an 'erase' option that purges the data?

Of course if a website wants to be sneaky, or if they know people would be upset by knowing exactly what's going on, then they'd want to keep it all secret.
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Kasey Chang
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by Kasey Chang »

It's more like "how would I know how Adsense and other ad platforms work?" or "I just use Wordpress, can't I just link theirs?"
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gameoverman
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Re: Not exactly computing, but more of GPDR compliance bullshit

Post by gameoverman »

That sounds suspiciously like someone trying to wipe their hands of all involvement even they are partnered with the people doing the sneaky thing.

If I choose to work with Bob to make money, and Bob is doing something nefarious and I know he's doing it, that makes me complicit. I don't get to say "Bob is the one doing it, not me" and have any credibility. The people doing business with me have every right to hold me accountable, if Bob is the problem he's MY problem not theirs.
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