Because it’s a member of the European Union and is home to many of the world’s largest technology companies, Ireland is responsible for regulating the online privacy policies that affect most of the world’s Internet users.
This has to do with the fact that many of these large tech companies have, over the last twenty years, moved their international headquarters to Ireland, looking to take advantage of the country’s low corporate tax rate of 12.5% — not to mention the strong technical skills of the island’s populace. Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yahoo, PayPal, Cisco Systems, Dropbox and Microsoft all have massive operations in Dublin.
Apple, for example, has been in Ireland for 30 years. The U.S. tech powerhouse keeps 70% of its profits under the umbrella of its Irish subsidiary. With loopholes under Irish law, Apple pays almost nothing in taxes. Recent tech upstarts like Airbnb, the accommodation rentals website, are also heading to the city on the mouth of the River Liffey.
But for a tech company in the European Union, this means facing a completely different attitude towards personal and online privacy than in the United States.
Specifically, the European Union adopts a far stricter approach to privacy than the U.S.
For example, in May 2014, a man in Spain sued Google, demanding the removal of a link to an article about an auction to his foreclosed home. The European Court of Justice ruled in favor of the man, establishing a digital “right to be forgotten.” And a determined pro-privacy campaign launched by an Austrian law student has produced two comprehensive EU audits of Facebook, alleging massive violations of EU citizens’ right to online privacy.
But here’s the kicker: the Irish Data Protection Commissioner has authority over any tech company based in Ireland. That makes the Commissioner the first port of call for anyone in Europe unhappy with the privacy practices of U.S. firms based there, like Google, Apple, or Microsoft. As Daraugh O’Brien, an Irish data protection expert in Dublin, put it: “Ireland’s data protection watchdog has found itself responsible for protecting the data of a large part of the world’s population.”
But the Commissioner has a habit of making calls in favor of American tech firms — perhaps reflecting the importance of the sector to Ireland. For example, the most recent Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, approved the transfer of reams of private data from Apple and Facebook servers in Europe to the United States, despite worries that U.S. law-enforcement agencies might get their hands on it. In this instance, issues of digital privacy seemed to take a backseat to the desires of the American companies.
The Irish Commissioner’s role will become even more important once the European Union finalizes new privacy rules next year, including restrictions on what information can be transferred out of the EU. The proposed regulations are strict, threatening fines of up to 5% of a company’s global revenue in the event of privacy violations.
But under the proposals, tech companies will be able to operate throughout the EU if they fulfill the interpretation of EU rules under the privacy authority of the country where they are based. That means if the privacy practices of a Dublin-based tech firm like Amazon or Google satisfy the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, they automatically pass muster with the entire EU, whether the rest of the EU likes it or not.
Obscure Foreign Bureaucratic Battle Affects Millions — Including You
For this reason, the process of choosing a new Irish Data Protection Commissioner recently became a global issue. A five-person panel of Irish civil servants and privacy experts was selected to pick the new regulator, out of more than 30 applicants. The candidate they selected, Helen Dixon, has spent over a decade working for two U.S. IT multinationals with their European, Middle Eastearn and African bases in, you guessed it, Ireland.
Big tech firms are pulling out all the stops to ensure that this new Commissioner continues Ireland’s lax oversight. Meanwhile, EU leaders and privacy advocates like Germany’s Angela Merkel are piling in on the other side, demanding a much stricter approach.
The stakes are high indeed. Roughly 80% of Facebook’s 1.2 billion users are outside North America. Facebook’s Dublin headquarters is legally responsible for adhering to EU rules regarding the privacy of every single one of them. And since it isn’t really feasible to have one set of systems for the U.S. and another for the rest of the world, the EU standards imposed upon Facebook and other tech companies will have a profound impact on their U.S. operations as well.
The last time I checked, I didn’t have the right to vote in Ireland. But it’s clear that my privacy is being affected by decisions made by the Irish government. The same has long been true, of course, for citizens of many other countries when it comes to actions by the U.S. government. As Marshall McLuhan put it years ago, we live in a global village.
Your Personal Battle for Internet Privacy
Here’s the lesson I draw from this: big institutions around the world, public and private alike, are increasingly beyond our influence. Decisions made far away by bureaucracies with which we have no relationship are shaping our lives in profound ways. Whether the Irish government interprets EU privacy rules by Commissioner, act of parliament, or plebiscite, the reality is that we don’t have control over the matter, even though it affects us.
That means that it’s up to each of us to protect our own interests. When it comes to privacy, be a parliament of one. Establish personal and financial privacy and regain sovereign control over your own affairs.
It can be done. And we’re here to help.
Kind regards,
Ted Baumann
Offshore and Asset Protection Editor
The post Ireland: The Country that Sets Big Tech’s Internet Privacy Policies appeared first on The Sovereign Investor.