Frankly this title is worthy of the Daily Mail. I expected more of GitHub.
It merely describes one individual proposal currently going through the process of consultation before being debated in the parliament, nothing else.
This is a fair point. However, it is still a (bad) proposal and while it is possible to hope that policy makers will make the right decision on their own, some public pressure does not hurt.
This may be unlikely to pass as is, but the trend of stifling new software and algorithm development in the name of copyright (or security) is pretty strong. IMO it is worthwhile to push back using chance we have.
Some things shouldn't even be proposed. If someone proposed to kill old people, he would be fired or even arrested. Same thing should happen here. But no, idiots and evil people can propose all kinds of evil stuff over and over and over, until it passes.
Why? Many reasons, but "it's just a proposal" is one of them. It's never just a proposal a proposal and since these people have huge responsibilities they should use their brains or it means they are evil and must be punished.
I initially felt the same way, but after actually reading through the GDPR materials, and a bit of Q&A on HN, I've come to the conclusion that it's a good thing.
It doesn't really place any burden on business - it simply means that you must be transparent with users about how you use their data, allow them to know what data you hold about them, and allow them to delete it if they wish.
As a consumer, as well as a founder, that seems very reasonable.
But the biggest real problem is that since the GDPR, read literally, is borderline draconian and the defence is that the regulators will enforce it selectively and pragmatically, literally no-one really knows how great that burden will be... which itself then becomes a significant burden.
I'm afraid I completely disagree, especially with "borderline draconian".
When I first heard about it, I was somewhat fearful of the unknown, imagining I was going to have to 'waste' time on 'checkbox compliance' - but after spending some time reading about it, I believe the intent is good, and also that the burden isn't going to be that big.
As a consumer, I absolutely want the GDPR - I believe I do have a right to know how my information will be used, to know exactly what is held, and to have it deleted if desired.
As a founder, I want to be responsible with personal data. And because I am, I'm already compliant with just about everything needed by the GDPR. I hardly expect a deluge of requests from users, so I don't even need to spend any time on automation.
This may be unlikely to pass as is, but the trend of stifling new software and algorithm development in the name of copyright (or security) is pretty strong. IMO it is worthwhile to push back using chance we have.