Parliament fines itself

ILUSO

I always like to start with this word. It gives me a lot of clues.

The O is green and the I is gold.

Humm.

TIBIO

The first I and the O are already well placed and the T is golden.

I already have 3 letters.

NIETO

Wow! 5 greens, in only 3 attempts.


A bit of luck there.

I hope I didn’t give you any spoilers.

And wordle reminds me that out of the 13 times I’ve played on this computer 30% of the time I’ve solved it on the third try.


By the way… How can wordle remember my results if it doesn’t use cookies?

Because, at least the Spanish version, doesn’t show any cookie warning. A very rare thing these days.


Luckily we have entities that care about us, dictate regulations, monitor them, and fine big tech companies that try to exploit our information for their own interests.

And, interestingly, this reminds me that a few weeks ago the European Union fined itself, namely the European Parliament, for failing to comply with its own regulations.

The European Parliament does not comply with its own data protection regulation!

WTF?


First of all, I trust that I will not have to worry too much about having to pay additional taxes to pay these fines. I trust it will all just be a transfer of our own money between accounts.

As I said in my opening word in the wordle: ILUSO (Naive?)


But the most worrying thing is that an entity that has large budgets, excellent professionals (I presume), little time pressure and also has to set an example and be very careful in everything it does is not capable of complying with its own regulations.

Not all projects have such advantageous conditions.


Because large companies can invest in adapting their developments and hire good legal advisors to bring them into line with regulations. This will make the products we buy somewhat more expensive and that’s it.

And if Google or any other big technology company is fined, we already know that they will raise prices to advertisers, who will pass it on to consumers and problem solved. That’s the market, they say.

But for a small company or a small project, one of these fines can mean an economic disaster.

Perhaps even the professional and personal ruin of the people behind it.

Because, on the other hand, the only way to create a web application for these companies is to rely on tools and solutions on the market. Which may or may not comply, or nobody knows if they do. As in the case of Google Analytics to measure the use made of your website and that every week that passes new court judgements come out in different European countries that say that it does not comply with the regulation.

But the regulation is European. Does each country determine whether the same service complies or does not comply with the same European regulation? I do not understand.

ILUSO.

Anyway…


But what is really worrying about the fine to the European Parliament is not that there has been a mistake, an oversight, a regulatory change that has not had time to implement.

No.

The problem would be that complying with the regulation may be unfeasible.

Something like to leave home you must wear an unexpired FFFP5 mask, you must wear a spare surgical mask, you must carry a certificate that you are going to work by the shortest route according to Google Maps, you must carry a dog, with chip and digital card, registered in your family book, with muzzle, leash, all vaccinations and COVID certificate in force (the dog, just in case). If you also take a skateboard, you must wear an approved helmet with a white light at the front, red at the back and orange flashing lights on the sides, elbow and knee pads with an airbag, a reflective waistcoat and clearance lights, as well as valid insurance and ride in the centre of the road, keeping a safety distance of 20 metres from other vehicles.

In other words, it is not that difficult to regulate.

Safety first and foremost.

Another thing is whether people can comply with it.

Maybe going out on the street is tempting fate to see if you can get home without a fine.

Because if the European Parliament regulates and the European Parliament is not able to comply with it, it must have been an oversight, right?

PS: I hope this text does not cause problems for Wordle in Spanish. It entertains me so much.