Facebook Friends

at

From top: Data Protection Commission office; Meta’s Dublin HQ (formerly Facebook)

This afternoon

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has denied claims that it lobbied members of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to help allow Facebook to bypass General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Via RTÉ News:

The commission has also denied it acted in bad faith by holding talks with Facebook in a manner that it has been claimed by privacy campaigners sought to subvert the procedures of the EDPB.

The developments follow allegations made against the DPC in recent days by NOYB, the organisation run by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems.

He claimed that documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act, showed the DPC tried to lobby other European data protection authorities for the adoption of a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) “bypass” approach to user data collection.

According to Mr Schrems, the “freedom of contract” approach would have allowed data controllers to put a clause into their terms and conditions, to make the harvesting of data necessary for a contract, in effect bypassing the consent requirement under GDPR.

Meanwhile…

The DPC acknowledged that the position it ultimately put forward on the issue of contract at the working group was not acceptable to many in the group and it became clear a consensus could not be built.

Anyone?

Data Protection Commission rejects Schrems’ claims on lobbying (RTÉ)

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18 thoughts on “Facebook Friends

  1. Optimus Grime

    Huh ho! So potential truth in the widely circulated rumour that Helen was picked by FB as opposed to the government. Her lenient behaviour towards them has not gone unnoticed in Europe.

      1. Elve

        The notable first office space for the DPC was chosen because it was cheap, vacant and widely known to be for sale and available. I’m sure they used different criteria when selecting their staff

  2. Elve

    This is getting a lot of attention internationally and the documents that the Irish DPC didn’t want published make very interesting reading. They’re on nyob.eu and there are handy, bite sized, video explanations of the background. It doesn’t make the DPC look great when a criminal complaint is made and the documents speak for themselves.

    1. Elve

      This should be very embarrassing, our Taoiseach had money in his wife’s account, our Tánaiste has admitted breaking the law but has not been prosecuted and now our DPC has a criminal complaint made against her. This is starting to look a little like corruption, incompetence or a lot of bad luck, Ireland and her people don’t shine their brightest with regard to these events.

      1. Steph Pinker

        Elve: Ireland and her people have allowed their rights to be trampled on without question or reason. Irish people have willfully let their bodily autonomy be sold to the highest pharma bidder; their bank accounts and pensions violated; their homes stolen through tracking mortgage or mica/pyrite schemes of regulatory *justice*; homeless people being evicted from tents while people with homes are bought out by vulture funds from different continents; bodily fluids seeping from dead unfortunates on HSE hospital corridors both inside and outside of morgues, and women with cervical cancer are deliberately misdiagnosed; undiagnosed elderly people with Covid-19 are hidden in care homes and wantonly let die while separated from their families; children are being forced to submit to mask wearing and harmful injections which serve no purpose and have no proven benefit to said children; our politicians and their so-called experts are regularly photographed without adhering to or being subject to any and all of the above – I could continue, but it’s too disheartening as this is only the beginning. And yes, there are many corrupt politicians past and present, not to mention quite a few academics from various disciplines and journalists in all media genres.

        The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and DPC are untouchable, and they know it. I’d like to move abroad again but I have a crew and an anchor now, so it’s not as easy anymore, however, if you are ambitious and without dependents, leave this failed corrupt state and find a pleasing and rewarding life for yourself elsewhere.

  3. The Dude

    Is it just me or does Facebook’s new meta logo look like a crappy bandit’s mask from a second rate comic book?

    Not at all a sinister organisation.

    Sited on Misery Hill yet claims the address to be at Grand Canal Dock. So appropriate.

    1. Chris

      It’s a play on the infinity symbol, like ‘lets upload your brain to the cloud bro, you’ll live forever!’ sike

      1. Steph Pinker

        It is Chris; many ancient cultures (including appropriated depictions in the Book of Kells) revered a snake eating itself in a circle as the infinite cycle of life, and when two circular snakes eating each other are depicted (such as the figure 8 on its side), it’s the never-ending, perfect cycle of life and death.

        However, the sad looking new symbol of FB has nothing to do with perfection and the circle of life – unless they resurrected and channeled Dalí through a séance? So, I’d say the Dude could be correct in his interpretation.

        Mwahahahahaaaaa!

  4. Jerr

    Let’s face it look at the 70 data centres and the dozens planned and we see who is pulling the strings
    This latest is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in a best little country to do business in

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