[btilly]

No, X is "businesses that handle people's data". For whatever reason.

The goal is to regulate adtech. But the effect is to impose regulatory costs on every company that wants to have a discussion forum on their website. (And the upcoming copyright bill is even worse.)

[kelnos]

In the case where X is what you describe, then fine. If they can't start their company and simultaneously treat my private data with respect and care, then I don't care for them to exist.

The cost of business going up isn't necessarily a bad thing, if we're getting something valuable in return (IMO we are). The question is whether or not the increased cost is prohibitive, and you have not provided any evidence to suggest that's the case.

[UncleEntity]

> The question is whether or not the increased cost is prohibitive, and you have not provided any evidence to suggest that's the case.

The thousands of companies that just block EU citizens rather than comply seems to suggest that they feel the cost is prohibitive.

As for more direct hard evidence I believe this would fall into the "unseen" category in Bastiat's That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen and is, in effect, calling on someone to prove a negative.

[TeMPOraL]

> The thousands of companies that just block EU citizens rather than comply seems to suggest that they feel the cost is prohibitive.

They block EU because they deem compliance not worth the effort (now), usually because they get more than enough from their US markets. This doesn't mean the costs are prohibitive. Thousands more companies didn't block EU citizens. Some companies (notably news sites) even started to offer a superior product to EU citizens (e.g. plaintext news).

Also, even with those blocking EU or shutting down, nothing of importance is lost. These companies have competitors that are less abusive, who do fine.

[jdietrich]

Handling other people's personal data is a serious responsibility. GDPR imposes regulatory costs, in the same way that health and safety or environmental protection legislation imposes regulatory costs. It's not creating any new costs, it's just properly pricing an externality.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2016/03/data_is_a_tox...