Yeah, and I use Apple devices. But I’m not shocked when they do user-hostile things. Nor am I shocked that GDPR isn’t nearly the cure all that everybody expected. Starting with the absurd claim that it applies to every company in the universe.
Thankfully you’re still wrong. It doesn’t apply to businesses that the EU has no jurisdiction over, just as Chinese laws against criticizing China do not apply to companies it has no jurisdiction over.
EU residents are, of course, free to not do business with those they don’t want to. Likewise, businesses are free to comply or not, just as companies can choose to comply when China says to stop reporting on their human rights violations.
> It doesn’t apply to businesses that the EU has no jurisdiction over
It applies, though indeed it doesn't matter in the immediate future because the EU won't be able to collect on it. However, I would expect it to prevent that company from ever being able to open a EU-based subsidiary in the future, so it's still a good deterrent (that is, if the GDPR was actually enforced).
In practice though, the worst offenders which the GDPR is supposed to protect us against (though again the enforcement of it leaves much to be desired) have big EU presences so it's not a problem.
> EU residents are, of course, free to not do business with those they don’t want to
The problem is that companies that the GDPR applies to seem very determined to be doing "business" with EU residents even without their knowledge or agreement. This "business" is of course about collecting, reselling or using their personal information in nefarious ways.
Indeed, if the solution was as simple as "don't do business with these companies" we would've never had the GDPR because there wasn't a need for it.
Nobody expected GDPR to be the cure for everything.
We had hope that it would do good and change the direction we were on. And it has been a success, the changes are industry wide and massive. Of course it isn't without faults, but we are far better off with it and have a better foundation for the future.
