One typically rambunctious UK tabloid labelled the current German administration as “The Fourth Reich” last week – and a German state is playing its part by banning the Facebook “Like” button from all websites in its jurisdiction.
The Eurozone financial crisis has produced far-reaching recommendations from the Germans and France which will impact upon the entire EU, prompting the always over-the-top Daily Mail to carry a headline hailing the arrival of the Fourth Reich.
One of the characteristics of Hitler’s regime – apart from the millions of executions, of course – was the arbitrary outlawing of run-of-the-mill activities such as reading certain books or listening to a particular type of music.
And while the latest thing to be banned in one part of Germany may not exactly be a 21st century echo of that time, it does appear to be an arbitrary decision to clamp down on something people all across the world might look upon as one small definition of freedom – the ability to “Like” something on Facebook.
As well as encouraging the public at large to avoid Facebook, the state of Schleswig-Holstein has ordered all government offices to remove the Like button from their websites and take down any Facebook fan pages.
Why? Because the overlords there see Facebook’s data-gathering technique as a violation of German and European data privacy laws.
Anyone who doesn’t comply is liable to face a €50,000 fine.
Still, it beats a one-way ticket to hell, eh?
[Main picture via owenwbrown/Flickr Creative Commons]
I had nothing but contempt for the European governments before, and my opinion has only sunk further into loathing.Because of this?-Renegade (August 21, 2011, 12:57 PM)
Yay for our wonderful governments that really are looking out for our best interests... (Yeah, right... are you high?)-Renegade (August 21, 2011, 12:57 PM)
Kind of discredits whatever point the author had to make - if you have to bring the Nazis up, I can assume you didnt have much to contribute in the first place.-iphigenie (August 21, 2011, 04:17 PM)
wheeling out comparisons to Nazis and Hitler when talking about the Facebook like button is ridiculous and an insult to the victims of the Nazis and World War II. Out of proportion even when compared to the arbitrary laws the nazis made...-iphigenie (August 21, 2011, 04:17 PM)
wheeling out comparisons to Nazis and Hitler when talking about the Facebook like button is ridiculous and an insult to the victims of the Nazis and World War II. Out of proportion even when compared to the arbitrary laws the nazis made...-iphigenie (August 21, 2011, 04:17 PM)
it's an insult to everyone, Germans as well (but of course that's the tabloids main intention, and isn't it great to have someone to insult when you have such a big guilt stick to beat them with if they object, & who gives a toss if 90% of them weren't even born then etc etc)
and as for quoting it with title, seems to me like just saying/doing the same thing...-tomos (August 22, 2011, 04:00 PM)
and as for quoting it with title, seems to me like just saying/doing the same thing...-tomos (August 22, 2011, 04:00 PM)
If thats aimed at me, I had zero intention of causing any offense by leaving the title in place. This was NOT written by me (Except the little laugh about their website). This is how I Always Share website quotes, leaving the original title to be used as the title for my post.-Stephen66515 (August 22, 2011, 04:16 PM)
and as for quoting it with title, seems to me like just saying/doing the same thing...-tomos (August 22, 2011, 04:00 PM)
If thats aimed at me, I had zero intention of causing any offense by leaving the title in place. This was NOT written by me (Except the little laugh about their website). This is how I Always Share website quotes, leaving the original title to be used as the title for my post.-Stephen66515 (August 22, 2011, 04:16 PM)
thanks Stephen for that clarification, I didnt want to be offensive myself or start another war or anything :-[
btw I'm not personally offended by it but do find it offensive - if that makes sense (living in Germany you start to realise how big the guilt stick is and to see things from a different perspective). FWIW I would have put it in quotes myself to show they're not my words...-tomos (August 22, 2011, 04:27 PM)
I have no intention of War 8)-Stephen66515 (August 22, 2011, 04:32 PM)
I have no intention of War 8)-Stephen66515 (August 22, 2011, 04:32 PM)
I knew that :Thmbsup:-tomos (August 22, 2011, 04:52 PM)
"The Fourth Reich" Facebook
The incoming complaint focuses on how the ‘Like’ button allows Facebook to track the online activity of any web user – even those who are not among the social networking site’s 750 million members worldwide.
By logging the IP addresses of internet users when they visit pages containing an embedded ‘Like’ button, the social network is theoretically able to build a profile of that user’s browsing habits, and then use this to its commercial advantage.
This was illegal under EU law, Weichert argued, because Facebook would harvest this data through web servers based in the US – and not within the EU, as the commissioner said was required.-http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-data-chiefs-set-to-test-if-facebook-%E2%80%98like%E2%80%99-button-is-illegal-209273-Aug2011/?utm_source=facebook
I don't like them doing it but how does harvesting raw data from a dynamic IP address help with marketing on Facebook?At the very least, they could related the dynamic IP to the IP the user is using to access facebook (if they are viewing it at the same time). Still, if someone is logged in to facebook, I'd say they can get the facebook user from there, since your friend's tastes come up on the "facebook social plugin" some sites have.-Carol Haynes (August 27, 2011, 10:29 AM)
Aren't they tracking you everywhere already? Or so it's suggested by this researcher (http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/11/30/facebooks-button-tracking-you/). No wonder you can block all the social media crap hanging around websites. And the loading speed improvements are nice.-Lashiec (August 30, 2011, 07:04 PM)