Google recently received a whopping GDPR fine. It was regarding their lack of compliance on the issue of data transparency (not being able to conveniently share the data it has on its users). GDPR regulations are quite strict when it comes to data transparency and have given a legal right to all European Citizens to see any and every piece of information concerning them.
Jon Porter of The Verge conducted a test to determine if the Tech Giants like Google, Facebook etc. were adhering to the new laws. He found out that retrieving the data is one thing but being able to understand it is a completely other problem. After all, the law demands the data to be shared with the user in an easily accessible and understandable form and the electronic means through which the data sharing is done, should be a commonly used one.
Porter concluded that Facebook had the most easily retrievable and understandable data. It provides users with an HTML file for every single file, which is sorted into its specifically labeled folder. There is also an index file which outlines the data included in every document.
Amazon, on the other hand, was a close second and following it was Apple. The issue with Apple was that its files were in different file formats such as JSON, CSV, TXT and JPG. Although most of these formats are quite easy to retrieve data from, there is information inside each file which is quite hard to interpret, especially for someone who’s not tech savvy.
Thus, Google was issued the heaviest GDPR fine in history.
So, in the end, we come to know that Facebook, the company which was accused of mishandling user data, is leading the way when it comes to keeping consumers in loop with data it has on them. The HTML format allows users of all types to easily have control of their data. Kudos to Facebook for this!
Photo: YICHUAN CAO/SIPA/AP
Jon Porter of The Verge conducted a test to determine if the Tech Giants like Google, Facebook etc. were adhering to the new laws. He found out that retrieving the data is one thing but being able to understand it is a completely other problem. After all, the law demands the data to be shared with the user in an easily accessible and understandable form and the electronic means through which the data sharing is done, should be a commonly used one.
Porter concluded that Facebook had the most easily retrievable and understandable data. It provides users with an HTML file for every single file, which is sorted into its specifically labeled folder. There is also an index file which outlines the data included in every document.
Amazon, on the other hand, was a close second and following it was Apple. The issue with Apple was that its files were in different file formats such as JSON, CSV, TXT and JPG. Although most of these formats are quite easy to retrieve data from, there is information inside each file which is quite hard to interpret, especially for someone who’s not tech savvy.
Related: Facebook Responds to Report that Half of Its Users Are FakeAnd then Google’s test results were analyzed and it was concluded that its data was the most difficult to comprehend. All the location data was found to be inside a single JSON file, which is a little difficult to access on its own. In addition to that, inside the file were a series of numbers. According to Porter, they required a ton of effort to be parsed and weren't user friendly at all.
Thus, Google was issued the heaviest GDPR fine in history.
So, in the end, we come to know that Facebook, the company which was accused of mishandling user data, is leading the way when it comes to keeping consumers in loop with data it has on them. The HTML format allows users of all types to easily have control of their data. Kudos to Facebook for this!
Photo: YICHUAN CAO/SIPA/AP
