Europe’s most famous technology law, the GDPR, is next on the hit list as the European Union pushes ahead with its regulatory killing spree to slash laws it reckons are weighing down its businesses.

The European Commission plans to present a proposal to cut back the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR for short, in the next couple of weeks. Slashing regulation is a key focus for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as part of an attempt to make businesses in Europe more competitive with rivals in the United States, China and elsewhere.

  • sir_pronoun@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Privacy matters, but it is really not good in its current shape. For example, it seriously hinders scientific research into contagious diseases because a lot of data of patients is incredibly hard to get or work on. There’s a lot more that could be done against epidemics if it wasn’t for the GDPR in its current shape.

      • sir_pronoun@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        This is not about consent but about databases that already exist and that could be anonymized easily, treasure troves of data for medical research, but even anonymously that data can’t be used because of stupid red tape

        • Thorned_Rose@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          You do realise that most medical research these days is for-profit? The only thing opening these databases to medical research will do is increase the profit lining the pockets of the already mega wealthy (and corrupt) industrial medical complex.

          • sir_pronoun@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Jfc you tankie, just because someone makes money from selling medication, do you really think the person receiving the medication is sad about the existence of the medication? You are literally saying “let’s not cure or prevent diseases because someone could make money from it”, how removed can you be

            Also, I was talking about state funded medical research into how the spread of contagious diseases could be halted, which would only have resulted in regulatory actions. That’s just one example. Get your head out of your own ass

            • Saleh@feddit.org
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              1 day ago

              Schrödingers patient. They would gladly give all their data to for profit businesses to then sell an expensive cure when not asked, but they would not be willing to give consent when asked…

              Especially in the case of medical data it is relatively easy to break anonymization. If you make the data sellable the first to buy will be insurance companies so that they can begin pushing for coverage to not be universal, but rather based on how healthy you are and maybe even denying coverage for your lung cancer at 60 because you used to smoke in your 20s…

              And the people who have the kind of diseases that would benefit greatly from research on it, will be first to be hung to dry in such a system.