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Comment by bepotts | Hacker News Reader

Or how about users take some ownership of their actions and educate themselves on how "free" services are making their money.

If you don't like Google's tracking practices: don't use Google products. If you're okay with them, then keep using Google products. Free minds; free people; associating with each other freely.

Washington should be weary of regulations like GDPR on principle. Plus I doubt GDPR would have passed if Google, Facebook, and Twitter were, say, French. GDPR was only passed because the companies they were "targeting" (and they were targeting a specific set of companies let's please be real) were foreign.

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> GDPR was only passed because the companies they were "targeting" (and they were targeting a specific set of companies let's please be real) were foreign.

This is complete and utter nonsense and only shows that you know nothing about EU policy making. The EU regulates the shit out of EU-based businesses. That's very well-known and quite controversial. And by the way, GDPR affects a ton (!) of EU businesses, basically every company that has some kind of web page. Do you really think there are no internet businesses beyond Silicon Valley?

It's well known the EU doesn't like Google and Facebook because of how disruptive they are; culturally and economically. Please don't insult my intelligence and say that France would have voted to hurt some of the most innovative (and financially successful) companies in the world if they were French. Be real.

Macron went all "Start up France" and was trying to attract some talent that would have been in the United States but can't due to Trump's habits. Every European country would vote another EU country out of the EU if it meant gaining Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

And Europe is irrelevant when it comes to consumer internet companies. That's just calling a spade a spade.

> It's well known the EU doesn't like Google and Facebook because of how disruptive they are

Um, what? No?

> Please don't insult my intelligence and say that France would have voted to hurt some of the most innovativ...

Luckily the EU does not consist of just one single country.

> Every single European country would vote another EU country out of the EU if it meant gaining Facebook, Google and Twitter

This is honestly so ridiculous, I am starting to wonder if you even know what the EU is. You are aware that it is a large union of countries that keep each other accountable and help each other, right? No single country could ever get rid of another country.

> And Europe is irrelevant when it comes to consumer internet companies. That's just calling a spade a spade.

Wow...just wow...

> Or how about users take some ownership of their actions and educate themselves on how "free" services are making their money.

They know. There’s nothing they can do about it. Even as someone who wants to protect their own privacy it’s impossible without being in a cave or updating your habits every week. Use Linux and duck duck go and don’t use any social media and don’t have a phone and only buy 15 year old TVs and late model cars, don’t use credit cards.

Blaming internet users for not protecting their privacy indicates that one has no idea how anything works, or they make their money off of ads.

No I'm not blaming internet users for not "protecting their privacy", I'm saying people who care about their "privacy" shouldn't be so presumptuous about the rest of us.

Plenty of people on Hacker News dislike data collection companies, that doesn't mean everyone else agrees with you. I'm plenty happy with Google collecting stuff about me. In fact, if they could use their algorithms to help me stay fit, and all they needed was me to ingest some pill every month or so while they collected information about me and gave me a readout, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Sign me up!

Not everybody cares about some "privacy" crusade. Don't ruin business models that the rest of us are okay with. If you want to use Google over DuckDuckGo, and can't get away from Twitter or Facebook, dude, that's your fault. Stop speaking for the rest of us just because you can't get your life in order.

If you succeed in eradicating Facebook, Google, and credit cards, you will not be able to use them anymore. Why is it unreasonable to stop using them a little early?

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