Yahoo Digs In Against Belgian Ruling Demanding User Info
from the belgium-is-a-lot-smaller-than-china dept
Yahoo got into a lot of PR trouble (and some Congressional scrutiny) a few years back for its cooperation with the Chinese government in handing over info on some users. Folks at Yahoo have certainly suggested in the past that this was a mistake on the company’s part, and it looks like it’s acting differently this time around… in Belgium. There, a court has fined Yahoo for failing to hand over information on a user accused of illegal activities. Yahoo’s response is that, as a US company, all such requests should go through the US. This makes a lot of sense for a variety of reasons (otherwise, Yahoo would be responding to requests from tons of different countries), but many may cynically point out that Belgium is a much smaller market to “fight” than China. On the whole, though, it seems that Yahoo is making the right move. If the data was being hosted in the US, then it only seems reasonable to suggest that the data is under US jurisdiction, not Belgium’s.
Comments on “Yahoo Digs In Against Belgian Ruling Demanding User Info”
Perhaps you have heard of yahoo.cn? I believe that Yahoo in China is partially owned by a chinese company, so they are operating directly in China. That would change everything, no?
Re: Re:
That would change everything, no?
In Belgium?
This post was about what they’re doing in Belgium, not China.
Re: Re: Re:
It just means Mike that their reaction in China would be different than their reaction in Belgium.
Want to speculate on potenial market size differences too?
Easy Solution
Yahoo could take up a policy along the lines of:
“User info? Naw, we don’t have any.”
Re: Easy Solution
“User info? Naw, we don’t have any. Unless you want to purchase it…”
belgians are champion yodlers so yahoo is important to them
Keepin Dr. Evil at bay, no more requests for "100 billion dollars"
Belgium is where Dr. Evil came from, so this makes sense.
Harold is weird
Harold is weird.
The tone, the language … reminds me of another poster from days gone by ……..
Geez
Cynical, I may be. But when someone backs down from the seventh-grade bully, but stands up to that girl in kindergarten, I’m not impressed.
OTOH, they’re doing better than google, if only by a smidge.
I wouldn’t take this as some sign that Yahoo are suddenly taking a stand for privacy. If Yahoo had an operating arm in Belgium and the request was lawful (under Belgian Law) then Yahoo would have handed the information over.
The question of jurisdiction defined by borders on a network that mostly ignores them is not a new one.
Re: It cuts both ways
Belgium isn’t doing anything that the US doesn’t do and hasn’t done itself. From Privacy International explains risks to census data by using U.S. contractor without strong protections: