Tag Archives: Facebook

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Former Federal Data Commissioner in Germany, Peter Schaar

“Former Federal Data Commissioner in Germany, Peter Schaar, says that it isn’t for tax reasons why Facebook has chosen to locate their EU headquarters in Ireland, but rather it’s for our relaxed data protection laws.”

“Speaking to The International New York Times, Schaar said that while Ireland had attracted companies like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Apple, it is Ireland’s loose interpretations of data protection law that is most appealing to them.”

“Of course Facebook would go to a country with the lowest levels of data protection. It’s natural they would choose Ireland,” Schaar told the New York Times.”

Yikes.

“Of course Facebook would go to a country with the lowest levels of data protection” (Newstalk)

Who’s the Watchdog? In Europe, the Answer Is Complicated (Mark Scott, International New York Times)

Pic: GMX Newsroom

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Bonkers writes:

Major oversight not registering a Facebook page for the new party. I especially like the bit that goes: “Under our proposals, all those on welfare for over 18 months will be recruited into chain gangs and sent to Offaly where they will be set to work building a new prison…where they will then be incarcerated.”

Go Renua !

Renua Ireland on Facebook

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From top: Candidates running in this week’s University College Dublin’s Student Union executive elections and votes being sorted and counted in UCD this afternoon 

Votes are being counted in UCD after students voted in their Student Union executive elections yesterday and Tuesday.

The latest results from the counts this afternoon show Marcus O’Halloran is leading in the UCDSU President race – with 493 votes (36%) ahead of Michael Foley who has 365 votes (27%).

Earlier this week, Mr O’Halloran released an apology to students after it emerged he was a member of a Facebook group, called ‘Girls I’d shift if i was tipsy’.

University Observer reported on Monday:

“The group, which as of this morning was open and public, consists of male UCD students and appears to have existed since 2012, with most of the activity taking place this February. All of the group’s members are men, and an early post in the group reads “right lads all girls have been removed from this group so its now a lads only group hence ya can talk more freely about girls id like to shift if i was tipsy”.”

“The latest post in the group is a photo of two students captioned with “Bitta cross breeding going on here” and two emojis depicting a white person and a person of colour wearing a turban, while another recent post shows two students, one male and one female, asleep in a bed together. Most photos in the group depict couples in nightclubs.”

“Complaints made about the group also addressed UCDSU presidential candidate Marcus O’Halloran’s membership of the group. O’Halloran has been a member of the group for over a year and has “liked” the majority of the page’s posts, including the two mentioned above. 22 of the group’s 47 members have cover photos or profile photos endorsing Marcus O’Halloran’s campaign for president.”

In his apology, Mr O’Halloran said:

“This group is not representative of my opinions on women’s rights or gender equality. There is a “Lad” culture prevalent across UCD and as president, I would like to run a sexual harassment awareness campaign to combat cat-calling and the objectification of women.”

Concerns raised over “derogatory” UCD students’ Facebook group (University Observer)

Pics: UCD Students’ Union

H/T: Catherine Healy

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Oscars Bar Café in Smithfield, Dublin and a CCTV screengrab the bar posted on its Facebook page on January 31 – of three guys who didn’t pay their bill

On Saturday morning, Oscars wrote on its Facebook page:

“To the three gin and tonic drinking well spoken “respectable” punters who were in last night. You have 72 hours to compensate us €300 for the damage you did to our restrooms and running out without paying your bill last night. Dumbasses, we have cctv cameras everywhere and will have no hesitation in publishing our unpixelated footage during the week if we do not receive payment #72hoursassholes”

Yesterday, they posted this pic…

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…and wrote:

“Compensation and letter of apology dropped in this afternoon. Doesn’t excuse the actions of these individuals but a small victory nonetheless. Many thanks to the Gardai for their assistance on the night.”

There you go, now.

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Last week, Facebook’s Head Of Product Chris Cox apologised to the drag queen community over the company’s ‘real names’ policy which resulted in the deactivation of  accounts where users had identified as colourful fictional names rather than their real birth names.

This week, Ellen, presented her own take on the affair…

(H/T: jack Jones)

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Darren Hughes-Gibson, 17, from Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, who died by suicide
in August 2012

It emerged yesterday, at the Dublin Coroner’s Court, that gardaí have launched a criminal investigation into Darren Gibson-Hughes’s death.

Darren’s mother, Elaine Hughes, believes her son was cyberbullied on Facebook before he took his life because he was mixed race and had a hearing aid. She believes threatening messages were left on his Facebook but that they were deleted after his death. She has been asking Facebook to allow Gardaí access Darren’s Facebook account for the last year.

In a previous sitting of Darren’s inquest, in June, the court heard from Garda Fergal McSharry. At the time, Gareth Naughton, in the Irish Times, reported:

Garda Fergal McSharry told the court yesterday they had been liaising with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US on retrieving the messages from Facebook. “Headquarters here in the Phoenix Park got on to the FBI who got on to Facebook . . . and Facebook have not co-operated with them,” he said.

Mr Naughton also reported in June that:

A Facebook spokesperson, when contacted after yesterday’s hearing, said: “Facebook’s law enforcement team works closely with agencies around the world. We respond to valid legal requests for information and encourage law enforcement agencies to follow our guidelines to help take their cases forward.”

Following yesterday’s hearing, Mr Naughton, now reports:

Updating the coroner on the gardaí’s efforts, Detective Inspector Kieran Holohan said that a criminal investigation into potential harassment is being carried out.

The investigation will provide grounds for the application to access Darren’s Facebook accounts, the court heard.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest for further mention in December.

Hmmm.

Brian writes:

“Maybe I’m missing something but..the Facebook statement from June doesn’t appear to suggest there was any need for a criminal investigation to be under way in order for Facebook to respond to requests for information. The company’s only stipulation appears to be that the Gardaí’s request be valid and legal. Doesn’t their statement suggest the Gardaí’s request wasn’t valid? Maybe because it was via the FBI? Eitherway, doesn’t the latest news that ‘the [criminal] investigation will provide grounds for the application to access Darren’s Facebook accounts’ call into question the validity of the gardaí’s original alleged request to access Darren’s Facebook account?”

Anyone?

Gardaí launch criminal investigation into the death of Darren Hughes-Gibson (Gareth Naughton, Irish Times)

Related: Dead boy’s mother in plea to Facebook (June 13, 2014, Irish Times)

Mother of 17 year-old who died by suicide found ‘horrific’ and ‘threatening’ messages on his phone, inquest hears (March 3, 2014, Independent.ie)

Tragic teen ‘may have been bullied’ before his suicide (August 30, 2012, The Herald)

Pic: Independent.ie