zlacker

In Europe it doesn't work like that. There you give consent to collect for a specific purpose and for any other purpose you need to go back to the source for another round of consent. This is something that many companies haven't implemented properly yet (but a surprisingly large number actually do).

>>jacque+(OP)
And in reality, every process is a kafkean bureocratic nightmare were you end up having to say yes in order to advance and they milk your data anyway while also using privacy rethoric to prevent citizens from getting gov transparency.

The typical powerful west European countries are corrupt to the core and when people feel we are better off than in the US (self congratulatory posts are common) it's generally lack of political awareness and involvement more than anything.

>>isaacr+o5
In reality, it just mostly works. Source: ample experience with European (no idea why you added 'West') companies that deal with my data. Since the GDPR has gone 'live' (as in: fines are being issued for non-compliance) the situation is improving every day.

>>jacque+f9
The 14 eyes alliance and legislation in countries like France make the GPRD seem more like protectionist laws that favor local corporations instead of actually protecting the privacy of everyday citizens.

>>chaost+Ok1
That's because GDPR explicitly isn't meant to be a law that protects against governments but against private entities. There's nothing "protectionist" about that.

>>jacque+(OP)
Except GDPR is full off "except law enforcement" exceptions

>>darren+vC1
Yes, so? Check out the text to see exactly what the context for those exceptions is and it all looks fairly reasonable. It doesn't say 'law enforcement gets to do whatever they please'.

>>chaost+Ok1
If anything local corporations are far more at risk of enforcement so your comment makes not sense. Privacy of everyday citizens has measurably improved, both from the perspective of an EU data subject (myself) and someone who professionally looks into the kitchen of many EU companies that process data (myself).

>>jacque+f9
It doesn't. I added west because I've lived in several countries of Europe and I'm talking about those and some other hegemonic ones I know about. The ones usually lauded due to not knowing about them. I'm European.

In this site there's a trend to treat Europe as a monolithic entity and pretend it's awesome. Any criticism gets taken as "Americuns" being ignorant and europe is awesome.

In reality, I see a lot of unwillingness to accept the political reality and pretend "we are better than USA" via political apathy and coping.

People react negatively when you point out polítical facts they don't want to see. It's easier to look at USA with an air of superiority. This also happens the other way around, of course, but HN demographics make one more typical.

>>isaacr+ee3
I have lived in no less than 7 EU countries as well as Canada and a bunch of others and EU privacy laws + implementation are hands down the best in the world right now. Could they be better? Yes, absolutely. But nothing else even comes close.

>>jacque+bU2
Nevertheless, law enforcement gets to do whatever the current governing regime permits, extrajudicially or otherwise. Consider that police in the US have both handcuffs and guns while police in the UK just have the handcuffs. Look at the effects, where so many in the US feel justified in their need to defend against extrajudicial force with guns (per 2A). Look also how many cops kill US citizens (suspect of a crime or not) compared to how many cops in the UK apparently don't feel such "fear for their life" which justifies the extrajudicial killings. If people have a hammer, nails will be what they find.