The fines do look paltry, but I don't think it's feasible to just pay the fine and continue to scoff at the law. Especially across a series of territories. There are surely sanctions for continuing breaches (haven't a clue what they are).
It may seem over-defensive to non-Europeans, but I think the claim that nothing bad is being done "yet" isn't persuasive. Much of Europe, remember, has a fairly recent history of (having, or resisting) totalitarian governments, complete with secret police and informers. That's part of the pysche.
While I can understand the EU's point of view and that Google SHOULD in fact be transparent and allow users control over what data is collected... I have to agree with Mitch, Google's not really doing any harm with it yet.
I think Google is taking a stand because it may be more expensive to change their massive systems than it is to pay the fines.
The EU Data Protective Directive is considered part of human rights law in Europe, and I suspect it's quite popular. CNIL's admonition to Google is based on the Directive's three main principles: transparency, legitimacy, and proportionality.
In other words, people should be able to know what personal data is being collected, that it's being collected for a legitimate purpose, and that it's not being warehoused in vast, unnecessary quantities, indefinitely.
Doesn't sound crazy to me. And after a lengthy exchange of correspondence, Google hasn't been able to satisfy any of the European regulators (or regulators in Canada, Australia, Mexico, and other countries on this score).
What fascinates me is Google's apparent intransigence in the face of this opposition: "We want to do it and we're doing it" seems to be the attitude.
It's difficult to see what harm Europe is trying to correct here. The word "privacy" seems to launch the crazy in Europe, the way "copyright" does here.
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