Zuckerberg is probably right in this one. Whatever fines might come out in the EU around this will be nothing compared to the cost of loosing the customers they notify and the cost of notifying them.
Just imagine getting a SMS (chain):
> You phone number and some of your data (<listed>) had been involved into a Facebook data breach. While Facebook is required by <insert law> to inform you about this breach they insists of not complying with the law and keeping they users in the dark. As such we <insert EU/local government agency> decided to do so. More information can be found here: <link to official EU site + link to local government sites with official translations>
If DPA finds Facebook in breach of GDPR they will be ordered to do it with additional fines for non complying.
Art. 58 GDPR Powers point 2:
> Each supervisory authority shall have all of the following corrective powers:
> (e) to order the controller to communicate a personal data breach to the data subject;
> (f) to impose a temporary or definitive limitation including a ban on processing;
> (i) to impose an administrative fine pursuant to Article 83, in addition to, or instead of measures referred to in this paragraph, depending on the circumstances of each individual case;
If FB still refuse, it will end up in the court.
If the courts agree with DPA, then FB will be ordered by the courts as well.
Courts can choose their way to force companies to comply with their orders.
Technically it's not a problem, it's kinda easy to filter phone numbers by country and (less reliable) by carrier. Then you either can use country local SMS gateways or potentially give it to the carrier in question and let them do it.
Again the problem is the legal basis.
Preferably a change of law should:
- make it legal for the goverment to do the contacting, including by passing it to the carrier associated with the number
- require carriers to send the massage (to avoid auto matic SMS spam detection problems). Through you give them some (small!) amount of money for their (lets be honest) small amount of additional work.
Actually, the processing of this data itself is probably a breach of GDPR.
Yes, for protecting his own interests. Users are just like cattle, playing farming simulations, feeding cattle.
They needn't to know what's happening in real life.
I'd say Zuckerberg is in the wrong, but I also understand why he made the decision.
Given everything else FB has done to hose its users, I don't think this is the last straw.
There is no mention of GDPR in the article, but in the worst case of not notifying _at all_, the GDPR fine should be $3.5B (4% of their global revenue). Is this quantity insignificant enough for them to ignore? (not rhetorical, i have no idea how much capital they are happy to burn).
> Zuckerberg is probably right in this one.
Right from an economic perspective perhaps, but not an ethical one...
If they had to do something, they will get a fine and they will be forced to do it anyway by the court.
If they don't comply with court orders they will be fined separately with an accumulating sum until they do.