[HundertzehnGustav]

Me neither.
anything i do on a pooter is either for fun or for work.

Fun related stuff can access the net.
Work related stuff is done either in a closed evironment with no net-related connections whatsoever, or on the work network altogether.

Sensitive data, like banking, shopping, exchange of spicy mails and anything i do not want other people to know, i do not trust the computer either.

Banking is done in persona, shopping is done by other people, and spicy and intimate stuff is done on a physical level.

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Some thoughts.

When it comes to hysteria over coming data protection rules in Europe, the most extremist warnings from lobbyists these days are coming out of the law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse.

The head of the firm's privacy and information law group, Eduardo Ustaran, recently told the American technology news service ZDNet that
if the EU's draft privacy and data protection law isn't changed, Gmail and Facebook may be forced to abandon their ad-supported models and start charging their customers in Europe or stop providing them with these popular services altogether.

Good. what's wrong?

You have internet access? you have an ISP.
Your ISP usually gives you 2/4 GB mail access.

You don't have Internet access?
Your local ISP may wnat to offer mail hosting services fora few bucks, so that you can check on the mails from an internet café.

--> money flows from Google to local businesses.

"If they weren't able to use your data in the way that is profitable or useful for them for advertising purposes, then either the user has to pay for it or stop using the service,"
Ustaran, whose company represents Facebook, Google and Zynga among other companies, told ZDNet.

just what i think would be a fun turn in things.

Not even industry associations representing the IT industry, who have been particularly critical of the draft European Data Protection Regulation, have gone that far.

who is these people we are speaking about here? the german or italian postal office or ISPs?
vague.

The demonstratively dark picture Ustaran paints of the regulations shows just how tough the fight between Web giants and regulators is growing over the issue of data protection reform.

Web giants shall remain web giants.

At the time, Reding promised the "right to be forgotten" for consumers who post personal information on Internet platforms.
All those embarrassing Facebook photos, she promised, could be gone with just a few mouse clicks.

Irrelevant. You screw up; you pay the price. The user is the one responsible for his actions.
Anything you put on the web can and WILL at some time be possibly held against you.
The Databases do not forget, the Databases are not yours.

A good idea, for those concerned, but one that takes responsibilities away from the citizen.
And thus bad, because it diminishes the awareness of your actions.

At the same time, Reding pledged a "one-stop shop" for the clarification of data protection questions --
a unified EU policy and a clear point of contact for every company.

seems okay. common rules for everybody in the EU, accessible in one place.
is there a catch?

The reason is that, taken individually, many pieces of data may not be considered to be personal.
If combined, however, it may be possible to clearly identify the end user using these bits of data.
These are defined as "online identifiers provided by their devices, applications, tools and protocols,
such as IP addresses or cookie identifiers."

True. piece for piece, like a puzzle, you are profiled on the networks. Till the big companies have a picture of who you are, what you usually do, where you go, buy eat and work on.
and these databases do not forget.
they only complete the picture about you.

...what for? what is their goal?

The debate is still raging over the precise definition of what can be considered personal data.

Opt-in vs Opt-out?
The user chooses what is personal, what is business, what is private what is not?

since all this is messy, and since LAWYERS are involved to break and overrule your decisions, keep everything as private. do not spread info on the net,
-because it will be caught,
-assebled
-and not forgotten.

do not buy online, unless you want amazon to track you.
go to your bookstore, and have thsm do it for you.
do not sell on ebay unless you want to be profiled.
sell locally by posting an ad in a newspaper.

case A)

If, for example, a German data protection commissioner complained to his or her Irish counterpart about a company that is based in Ireland and the official in Berlin didn't believe the Irish had handled the case correctly, the conflict would then be resolved by the board at the EU level.

case B)

Under the Reding draft, the European Commission would have had the last word in unresolved disputes.

none of them makes for a good rule, as the end user, be he a small private dude/ dudette, or a Company and small business,
will still give decision power away.

To "The EU" or "To Google" makes no difference.
Its like crapping in the hand and clapping in the other.

the solution is to keep in mind the networks catch it all, assemble profiles and never forget.
be anonymous.
be reponsible.
be local.
be.