[claudius]

> I don't know about the EU, but in the U.S. your statement is simply not true.

Ah, I forgot that we are taking US data protection laws into account when an Austrian group files a complaint against an Irish subsidiary.

E.g. in Germany it is forbidden to take photos in public where people who did not agree to it are the main subject – you can still photograph buildings, scenes etc., just not individual people.

[mrmekon]

Very late response: this comment thread was a general discussion about privacy, it wasn't specifically about the article.

And a maaku on HN could easily be this maaku on github from California: https://github.com/maaku

And the 'online robots' and 'direction of the government' almost certainly refer to the recent NSA case, which is an American issue.

So, yes, the US data protection laws do seem relevant to the conversation.