Today’s links Ireland’s privacy regulator is a gamekeeper-turned-poacher: Dublin is a made town. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading Ireland’s privacy regulator is a gamekeeper-turned-poacher (permalink) When the EU passed its landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it seemed like a privacy miracle. Despite the most aggressive lobbying Europe had ever seen, 500 million Europeans were now guaranteed a digital private life. Could this really be? Well, yes…and no. Despite flaws (Right to Be Forgotten), the GDPR has strong, well-crafted, badly needed privacy protections. But to get those protections, Europeans need their privacy regulators to enforce the rules. That’s where the GDPR miracle founders. Europe includes several tax-havens – Malta, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland – that compete to offer the most favorable terms to international corporations and other criminals. For these havens, paying little to no tax is just table-stakes. As these countries vie to sell themselves out to giant companies, they compete to offer a favorable regulatory environment, insulating companies from lawsuits over corruption, labor abuses and other crimes. All of this is made possible – and even encouraged – by the design of European federalism, which lets companies easily shift which flag of convenience they fly. Once a company re-homes in a country, it can force Europeans across the union to seek justice in that country’s courts, under the looming threat that the company will up sticks for…Pluralistic: Ireland's privacy regulator is a gamekeeper-turned-poacher (15 May 2023)