News: 1608126304

"once Britain tries to get a bilateral trade agreement with America and has to start putting things on the table."

Of course the UK will also want to be able to trade with the EU so it will need data protection here equivalent to the EU's. If Boris can't reassure Biden that the Irish arrangements are a satisfactory implementation of the Good Friday agreement there won't be a US trade agreement so he might as well stick with EU standards and pass it off as part of that implementation.

I wonder how long it will be before Boris declares he's got Brexit's done, his work here is complete, ticks off "been PM" on his private check list and bails out to let somebody else deal with all the inherent contradictions and unsolved problems, rather like Cummings.

Ad services are services, which wouldn't be covered in a deal. UK sovereignty fully applies here.

And even if it would, it would cover moving EU citizens data to UK datacenters, and nothing about 3rd party state citizens(Brits) elsewhere.

This is just another story about nothing. There'll be plenty more once we leave properly.

I give him till March at the latest.

The 'not covered by GDPR' bit is confusing me. I was under the impression that GDPR had been absorbed into British law to be conformant with European data directives? The British law side of it does not disappear on Brexit ... or does data protection legislation die and has no replacement? If it does die that deserves far more of a shout scream and run around like a headless chicken headline than Faceache and Gobble being opportunistic ...

"I was under the impression that GDPR had been absorbed into British law to be conformant with European data directives?"

Correct - it's the Data Protection Act 2018, and it does not turn into a pumpkin on 1st January 2021.

Is is, however, unlikely to be enforced to any real extent.

Sadly.

All very confusing. Facebook obviously see something here so perhaps they think they can get around UK law with some kind of Safe Harbour which stays valid as thee ECJ ruling now longer applies?

So Boris can say look we're keeping the protection while hiding behind an ineffective (un)Safe Harbour agreement?

Facebook can't take on the might of the EU, but they reckon they can take on the much weaker UK.

They'll do what they want, and if there is any issue, lobbyists will fix it.

It's all about the uk taking back control......

From The Fine Article:

And the “UK GDPR” part? Well, let’s see just how G and P that is once Britain tries to get a bilateral trade agreement with America and has to start putting things on the table.

All part of the wonderful world of being in sole charge of our own destiny, taking our rightful place on the world stage, etc.

That always, but always means, "watch out suckers".

{in 1pt white on white} will be the condition

- If you want to file suit against Facebook Inc then the case must be filed in person in the Northern District of California Court venue in Fort Bragg, California.

Just to make it hard to take them to court you understand.

...that I'm not posting on faceache any more. Have curated my posts right down. One day, faceache will be replaced, like others before it. There are enough other services like Twitter, skype and Discord to survive happily without faceache.

And they will be better how, exactly?

Posting here is the limit of my (anti) social media activity. I could easily give that up too. Anytime. Just watch.

"Posting here is the limit of my (anti) social media activity. I could easily give that up too. Anytime. Just watch."

So true, looks like I'll miss the FB revolution... never got involved, never will.

@msknight

Might be worth “poisoning the well” putting a bunch of junk into the system before deleting as much as you can (it’s not like it actually gets removed from f*c*book’s data hive, so messing it up a bit is about the best that can be done).

Good luck with dropping the f-word!

Tell Zuckerberg, to go and do one - totally unacceptable. I wont sign any FB agreement regarding this, and if its not offered, then its illegal, under our laws. If as I suspect he takes no notice - simple - dump FB

Is that because you won't sign any Facebook agreement or are you the person who actually reads the Ts&Cs?

"its illegal, under our laws."

For now, The implication in the article is that Boris or his successor will be pressured into changing those laws to get a trade deal. Having left the EU we'll be fully in control of making any changes needed when negotiating a US trade deal from a position of extreme weakness.

I somehow feel that FB, Google etc. don't actually care that the UK still abides by EU GDPR rules. They see that we have come out of the EU and therefore all our data is up fro grabs. Boris & Co haven't realised that they are doing this (and probably don't give a damn) so our data will move.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Facebook would just ignore UK rules after 1 January. If they get into trouble they could always make a donation to the Conservative Party to make their legal troubles go away.

“A fantastically corrupt country” - David Cameron

Then vote for someone else. Take some bloody responsibility.

You never know, there could be some new rules waiting in the wings, ready for the New Year when Britain will be back in control.

I wonder if Boris and Matt will have offices next to Cleggy?

They'll be able to chat over old times in parliament by the water cooler.

Good. Wasnt GDPR the reason dangerous videos of self harm couldnt be automatically screened out from viewers? GDPR limiting the technology able to be used at figuring this stuff out.

Citation needed I'd say. That connection sounds utterly bonkers to me.

It's codejunky, spinning an anti-eu story by the telegraph.

Instagram claimed that because GDPR stops them from unrestricted scanning of everyones private data, their algorithms are less likely to pick up issues.

It's rather like claiming chimneys are dirtier because we no longer let children climb inside them, or that medical progress is being hampered because doctors aren't allowed to experiment on prisoners.

@AC

Actually I linked the BBC but have seen it a few times on a number of sites. Feel free to look, and tag your post with your name for posterity

"Instagram claimed that because GDPR stops them from unrestricted scanning of everyones private data, their algorithms are less likely to pick up issues."

Rice-Davies applies.

@Greybearded old scrote

I agree-

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54903428

There are a few articles on it. Something about it being a grey area of GDPR.

This (the linked story on the BBC) sounds a bit like the usual FUD around the GDPR in general, and a bit like a half-excuse for not doing a better job.

In Austria, around the introduction of the GDPR, there was a discussion on whether door bell labels on apartment blocks violate the GDPR - I kid you not.

The "reasoning" was along the lines, that the listing a resident's name along with the door number on a publicly accessable site, i.e. the door to the apartment block, constitutes a breach of the GDPR.

If stuff is uploaded to any anti-social network, then the anti-social network has all rights to process this stuff, let alone sell it to other interested parties.

How a human review by the anti-social network, or one of its sub-contractors, is hindered by the GDPR is beyond my imagination.

There may be some areas of the GDPR which are not readily understood, or even ambiguous. However, if a anti-social network is allowed to use, or even sell, the stuff that was uploaded, content moderation by either algorithm or (poor philippine) human content reviewers can in no way be hindered.

@ComputerSays_noAbsolutelyNo

"This (the linked story on the BBC) sounds a bit like the usual FUD around the GDPR in general, and a bit like a half-excuse for not doing a better job."

It could be. Or it could be true considering how hard the EU is going after american companies, that they dont want to give a grey area for the EU to try and fine them for fun.

"In Austria, around the introduction of the GDPR, there was a discussion on whether door bell labels on apartment blocks violate the GDPR - I kid you not."

Ffs. The thing with GDPR was the mountain of FUD and genuine fear of non-specifics which would rely on court cases to solve. Trying to find the middle of such was blurred and probably caused half the confusion.

Hey, I thought you were all for free speech and non-EU censorship!

Make up your mind!

@AC

"Hey, I thought you were all for free speech and non-EU censorship!"

Its not EU censorship. Actually I dont think I used the word censorship at all as its to do with legalities of sharing personal information and making judgements on health (my understanding of the issue).

"Make up your mind!"

Go on, tag your name so we can see the troll/idiot

Wasnt (sic) GDPR the reason dangerous videos of self harm couldnt (sic) be automatically screened out from viewers?

No, the only problems moderators have with user-generated content under GDPR is how to remove it if the user requests it, because it's the first time many online forums will have had to look at how to actually delete posts since they're finally legally obliged to.

They have no problems automatically screening data but they do have problems automatically selling data.

In other words, it seems like yet more antisocial network FUD and something entirely expected from a Facebook product.

Sometimes, someone on here seems obnoxious enough that I feel it's worth taking the time to go back and make sure I haven't missed downvoting any of their other posts.

@Hubert Cumberdale

Ahhhh. I noticed a few people asking who was doing this and I noticed some of mine seemed so affected. If it keeps you entertained why not.

The concept of "common carrier" was designed to protect postal services and later telegraph and telephone companies for any liability pertaining to the messages they delivered. This is quiet fare an sensible as otherwo\ise they would have to read and censor every message delivered.

However the postal service does not open your letter see your gripe about getting back pain from mowing the lawn then stuffing the envelope full of flyers for sit on lawn mowers and pain relieving creams.

As facebook and google target their ads based on the content of your posts and e-mails they can hardly assert that they did not know what was in the message.

And if they complain that vetting posts for liable and criminal activity would be two difficult for them to operate profitably then tough they are not an essential service, and, we do not not prosecute blackmailers because it would damage the profitability of their enterprise.

It seems absurd that a local Newspaper with a few thousand readers need to fact check its articles and run anything remotely controversial past a lawyer while a scumbag with several hundred thousand followers on facebook can post libels, falsehoods and incite violence without a worry or care.

The fact that facebook has no official position of Editor, such as newspapers, does not mean it's not editing its content.

We're unfortunately doomed to play catch-up with the anti-social internet giants, as regulation was dormant for decades in this matter.

Has the concept of not using Facebook escaped everyone?

Oh no! We've been taken hostage and forced to post innane crap on a webpage hosted in the US instead of Ireland! Whatever shall we do? Without the EU to protect us from being idiots we could all die horribly in some terrible privacy-related accident of our own causing!

What difference does it make *FaceBook* is the company that you shouldn't be sharing your data with.

The website Facebook isn't as relevant, IMHO, as many people believe.

However, the real meat, IMHO, are the messengers.

They are on every phone, the reflect your active-in-use social network, i.e. the people you regularly talk to, and not the schoolmate you harass with food pics.

The messenger apps also provide location and movement data, something that the website Facebook alone couldn't.

And while people, may well stop to use the website Facebook without much felt pain, doing away with whatsapp and instagram will be a much tougher proposition for most folks.

"Has the concept of not using Facebook escaped everyone?"

Not quite everyone.

Surely, it's time for our own World Beating, all British social media platform!!!

Have to think of a name that encompasses the good old fashioned Brit commentator

while acknowledging the vapid stream of gobshite that will fill this new "in one orifice

and out the other" sewer.

I know - TommyRot!!

@AC

"Surely, it's time for our own World Beating, all British social media platform!!!"

Wasnt it the EU lamenting their lack of global tech success and desiring to not only smack down US ones but then fund their own? Might have only been a passing idea but I do seem to recall something that stupid to laugh at a while ago.

"Data Protection Act 2021" Post Brexit amendment to DPA, to clarify and take back control, has been given royal ascent.

The term "Data" under the act is clarified to refer to "written works on papyrus".

If you are aware of any papyrus works being damaged, misappropriated or exploted, DPA-21 will now cover this fully.

This protection was woefully inadequate under the EU. This amendment was supported by the untiring work of Facebook, Google and Amazon.

Those divide-and-conquer tomes from the days of the empire need some dusting, just that the UK citizenry is now the target.

Karma??

Look at what is being done to Ghanians

I think this is an example of what's called "regulatory insecurity" where companies end up having to wing it. In absence of an agreement with the EU all existing agreements will lapse after 31st December meaning that Facebook Ireland will no longer be able to process data for UK citizens. The alternative of setting up a UK company for this purpose probably isn't possible so the UK gets the "WTO" treatment that many other countries will have.

Rinse and repeat for all regulatory requirements where the incorporated country is in the EU. This is why the EU is also offering the UK an arrangement for essential services in the event of a no-deal (personally, unless the transitional agreement is extended, I can't see being avoided) so that UK airlines can continue to fly into, out of and within the EU.

Oven ready indeed!

> And so you will get to choose: use Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram and have your data pored over and sold, or elect not to follow social media giant’s decision by, um, never using those services again.

There is a third option, you could not be a product of these sites to begin with.

As an anti-social curmudgeon I've never seen the point in social media. Apart from El Reg comments and LinkedIn (which I need to get work) I have never used it.