Google: We Are Above UK Privacy Laws

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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May 9, 2000
Messages
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Google has basically informed the British government this week that they have no jurisdiction over the multinational company. The defiant stance from Google stems from a lawsuit concerning privacy matters over tracking cookies.

In response to the campaign group's allegations, the search engine giant says in legal filings that as an American firm, British privacy laws do not apply, and so the matter cannot be brought to a U.K. court.
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And yet they have offices in the UK. Good luck with that, GOOG.
 
This should be interesting, lets see what happens once the EU closes their scummy tax dodging loopholes to bring them to heel.
 
google best watch out, after what went down in the Guardian's basement it is clear that the iron fist has come out of the glove in the UK
 
Then move out of the UK.

I've never been more sure that MS, Goog and so many other huge US corporations got as big with the help of their government. It makes perfect sense.
 
If they don't want to follow UK law then they would have to block all EU users.

If their website can be accessed from within the EU then they have to follow the law of all EU nations.
 
Google thinks they have more power than the UK government?

Wait until the UK starts locking google bank accounts, seizing Google assets or blocking all google traffic.
 
They will be in bed with Google, Google are a major source of information and spying on citizens is high on the agenda.
 
Anyone here play the roleplaying game Shadowrun? Welcome to the begining of Mega-Corporate Extraterritoriality. ^_^
 
Hurt these creeps where it hurts the most, in their wallets. In your browser use Noscript and block all google advertising scripts. Stop using google.com I use duckduckgo.com for search and mapquest.com for, you guessed it, maps.

These turds at google show the same kind of arrogance we get from scum like rockefeller, gates, and soros. Time to flush em.
 
If their website can be accessed from within the EU then they have to follow the law of all EU nations.
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Really, so just because some Chinese dude can get to the [H] you think HardOCP should conform to Chinese law?

If Google runs servers and specifically does business in the UK then the UK has a case. If UK citizens only access Google services from US based servers, no way.
 
Spazturtle said:
If they don't want to follow UK law then they would have to block all EU users.

If their website can be accessed from within the EU then they have to follow the law of all EU nations.
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So should they also be required to follow Iranian law if they can be accessed from there? How about Chineselaw, Russian law, Cuban law. Nigerian law, etc....


lcpiper said:
Really, so just because some Chinese dude can get to the [H] you think HardOCP should conform to Chinese law?

If Google runs servers and specifically does business in the UK then the UK has a case. If UK citizens only access Google services from US based servers, no way.
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Exactly, if they don't have a significant physical presence in a country I don't think they can be made to abide by that county's law. Now the question is, what sort of physical presence does Google have in the UK?

While I don't support what they did, the defense they are using seems like common sense to me.
 
Nenu said:
Do no evil.
Yeah right.
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Funny thing is that Google's former CEO recanted that statement and responded by saying that you simply can't function as a corporate while keeping true to that motto.

Google can "say" whatever it wants , if it wants to function the UK (and it does..) then it will have to either conform to what the UK government wants or it can face non-stop litigation and bad publicity.

I so hate corporations.
 
Outamyhead said:
They can just close up shop like they did in China.
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Not in the English speaking west they can't. No way can Google afford to not have a presence in the UK. Google is just as big there as it is here in terms of usage and popularity.

Google will eventually have to give into some kind of agreement and the UK will have to settle for less to achieve it.

The problem is that Google is a monopoly in the West.
 
I see three locations for Google Offices in London. No idea what business they are doing there. Even if they have offices there it is still possible that the UK has no valid complaint. Google does alot of different things like their Internet Device products, etc... If Google has those offices in London expressly to help foster their Internet related business like say, the Google Play Store, then maybe the UK has something to say about it, for UK customers accessing services specifically targeting the UK.
 
This isn't surprising. Aren't most multinational corporations above the law? More accurately, don't they pay for the laws they want?
 
The UK has privacy laws? Felt awfully private in London where at just about any location I could see no less than 4 cameras.
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
Exactly, if they don't have a significant physical presence in a country I don't think they can be made to abide by that county's law. Now the question is, what sort of physical presence does Google have in the UK?
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Way to pick your words too carefully. Yes, I am pointing that "significant" presence of yours. They operate co.uk domain and are officially doing business there. Google doesn't exactly offer free lunch on the street for charity.
 
nutzo said:
Google thinks they have more power than the UK government?

Wait until the UK starts locking google bank accounts, seizing Google assets or blocking all google traffic.
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Yeah good luck with doing that to a huge American company...I don't think they keep all their money in UL banks?
 
There's a fundamental difference between "we are above the law" and "we are not subject to the law".
 
They serve UK customers. UK customers are being served in the UK, ergo they are offered protections as provided by UK law. UK law says you must do certain things with respect to privacy.
Google have no leg to stand on. They must comply, or they must cease providing that service. Anything else is bullshit.
 
I imagine it like Google being a BUSS and these silly laws the other vehicles on the road...

a5drwVy_460sa.gif
 
Nenu said:
Do no evil.
Yeah right.
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What evil were they doing in this particular instance? There's a security feature in Safari that is - not as a bug, but as a feature of its implementation - easily circumventable. Google was found to be circumventing it.
 
Power corrupts.

I'm extremely disappointed at Google but not surprised. Fame, money, and power change people. Yes, I meant people. Behind every corporation sits the people that run it.

Just yet another reminder how the world works.
 
Its pretty evil saying that you dont have to abide by laws which govern privacy.
Laws for this werent made up because someone had a bad day.
 
snowcrash said:
Power corrupts.

I'm extremely disappointed at Google but not surprised. Fame, money, and power change people. Yes, I meant people. Behind every corporation sits the people that run it.

Just yet another reminder how the world works.
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It's a neverending cycle: the ambitious upstart takes the old warhorse to task, the ambitious upstart rises to the top, and the ambitious upstart eventually becomes the old warhorse, only to be toppled by another ambitious upstart some day.

Here's to the next upstart.
 
Jedibenuk said:
They serve UK customers. UK customers are being served in the UK, ergo they are offered protections as provided by UK law. UK law says you must do certain things with respect to privacy.
Google have no leg to stand on. They must comply, or they must cease providing that service. Anything else is bullshit.
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Yeah, I don't think their scared of doing that...
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
So should they also be required to follow Iranian law if they can be accessed from there? How about Chineselaw, Russian law, Cuban law. Nigerian law, etc....
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Yes actually, thats why they had to censor their search results in China, because they were serving people in China they had to follow China's law.
 
So I guess every US based site and search engine should just block every fucking country but the US and see how they like that, lol.
 
Can't wait to see google pay for this display of arrogance. Should be entertaining.
 
Spazturtle said:
If their website can be accessed from within the EU then they have to follow the law of all EU nations.
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LOL

thats the funniest thing I've read on here in a while!
 
Super-D said:
This isn't surprising. Aren't most multinational corporations above the law? More accurately, don't they pay for the laws they want?
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Things start to go messy between Google and UK govt. Threats are made at Google.

UK PM David Cameron gets a phone call from head of Google.

"Mr Cameron, we are planning to open a series of new Google Academies for young people in (insert depressed areas here) and we'd like you to spearhead the campaign and open the first one!"

Threats all go away.
 
03grandam said:
So I guess every US based site and search engine should just block every fucking country but the US and see how they like that, lol.
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Would be good for the world economy eventually.

Back in the bad old days of South Africa when world corporations pulled out of SA. Basically what happened was local companies took over the factories and started producing internally.

Money and profit stayed within SA.

There are always plenty of others just waiting to fill the void. Google knows that.

Would be some initial disruption but things would get back to normal pretty quick.

The world wouldn't end.
 
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