Cubicle 7 forums to close due to EU data law

[Ancalagon]

Well this is ... peculiar...

http://forums.cubicle7.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11706

This new regulation, GDPR - some data protection thing - is apparently so onerous to meet that they feel forced to close their forum. Juuuust as the 4rth edition of warhammer was about to be released too...
[MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION], could this impact EN world somehow?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don’t know if it would...but Brexit.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

Nobody's going to be 100 percent compliant. If you have a substantial business outside of the internet and can use Twitter, Facebook , Reddit etc to talk to your fanbase, you are probably have a pretty good incentive to simply work through those avenues instead. If they decide to strictly enforce GDPR, it is going to be a total mess.

Link to Article on the Verge about the topic...

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/22/17378688/gdpr-general-data-protection-regulation-eu

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

This is why so many internet sites and companies have been hitting us this month with updated privacy policies to agree to.

 

[aramis erak]

This is why so many internet sites and companies have been hitting us this month with updated privacy policies to agree to.

Especially UK-based ones. Modiphiüs sent me a 'Do you want to stay subscribed" message with links to new terms.

 

[MarkB]

It is a bit of a minefield at the moment, mostly because (a) it allows people to be very specific about how they want their data used, and (b) it requires companies to be pretty responsive to any requests. It's quite possible that an existing, off-the-shelf forum system would struggle to cope with the new regulations, whether in terms of being flexible enough to support a whole range of privacy levels, or responsive enough to allow, for instance, every record of a specific individual to be removed without screwing up the database.

At the absolute least, it would require oversight by someone sufficiently familiar with the regulations to ensure compliance, and in a small company that alone can be a significant cost.

 

[dragoner]

... to allow, for instance, every record of a specific individual to be removed without screwing up the database.

On my forum I can remove every post and attachment by a user in a few clicks, it's just a cosmetically polished phpBB. From reading the FAQ for the GDPR, it seems fairly vague in that logging user name and IP address is illegal? Or could be looked at as so, that is some troublingly vague language there.

 

[Enkhidu]

On my forum I can remove every post and attachment by a user in a few clicks, it's just a cosmetically polished phpBB. From reading the FAQ for the GDPR, it seems fairly vague in that logging user name and IP address is illegal? Or could be looked at as so, that is some troublingly vague language there.

Actually, based on all the hoops we've been jumping through at work to comply, logging username and IP address would only be illegal if the user wasn't notified and opted-in. ENWorld can comply by making certain that a PM gets sent with the notification, and to have everyone "opt-in" before making their next post.

Non-compliance is also not the end of the world. Max financial penalty is based on 4% of global revenue (with a cap). While I'm certain that Russ doesn't want to get hit with it, my guess is that he could withstand it. Exchange rate might cause issues, of course, as would any inter-company entanglements between ENWorld as a site vs. the press operations.

 

[dragoner]

Actually, based on all the hoops we've been jumping through at work to comply, logging username and IP address would only be illegal if the user wasn't notified and opted-in. ENWorld can comply by making certain that a PM gets sent with the notification, and to have everyone "opt-in" before making their next post.

Non-compliance is also not the end of the world. Max financial penalty is based on 4% of global revenue (with a cap). While I'm certain that Russ doesn't want to get hit with it, my guess is that he could withstand it. Exchange rate might cause issues, of course, as would any inter-company entanglements between ENWorld as a site vs. the press operations.

It would be fiercely annoying if you actually had to log in before making a post in order to approve making that post. One thing that seems odd is that facebook and twitter I would think have the same issue as individual forums. What about advertisers and browsers?

 

[MarkB]

One of the major parts is that you can only collect the personal information you require in order to provide your service. Even with user opt-in, if you were to collect, for instance, home address data for individuals to whom you had no need to communicate or provide goods and services via mail, you could be in breach of the regulations.

So, a user's IP address might be necessary in order to maintain site security or prevent someone creating multiple accounts, but if you're collecting them purely to carry out demographic analysis for your own benefit you could get into trouble.