When France’s privacy regulator fined Google(s goog) €150,000 ($204,000) over its unified privacy policy, it was the biggest fine the national watchdog could muster. According to EU justice chief Viviane Reding, however, it was “pocket money” that would be vastly outweighed by the amount Google could be fined under upcoming EU-wide data protection legislation. “Europe needs to get serious,” she said in a speech, noting that the new law would allow fines of up to 2 percent of global turnover — $1 billion in Google’s case – and maybe actually lead the targets to change their ways. Guess she’s still mad at Google’s global privacy counsel calling the first, much-lobbied draft of her legislation “dead”.
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I’ve always felt that these fines are an easy way for the EU to get some free money.
I;m not a big fan of Google, but lets face it, these EU countries intentionally go after deep pocket American companies as a means to extort money.
Mostly because people aren’t so brain-washed from big corporations as in us. There still is people who thinks that your privacy is human right and not some luxury, that is available only for rich.
Let’s no forget that this nonsense brouhaha about the privacy policy is nothing but a thinly veiled political campaign by Reding to further her illogical/non-sustainable privacy legislation.