WEBVTT - Brian Fung Talks to Armstrong & Getty

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<v Speaker 1>When you're ready to ride Metro, we want you to

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<v Speaker 1>at well mata dot com slash doing our part. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm into this story. I know a lot more than

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of you are. Um, I wish you were

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<v Speaker 1>more into it. In Europe, they treat your private information

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<v Speaker 1>online as your private information. It's your property. That's the law,

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<v Speaker 1>your data in the parlance of our time, and you

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<v Speaker 1>have to agree in writing or at least clicking on it.

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<v Speaker 1>I agree to to turn it over to somebody else.

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<v Speaker 1>Obviously it's not that way in the United States. But Google,

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<v Speaker 1>even though it's a that's on in your Google still

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't care. Ryan Fall does a great job covering tech

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<v Speaker 1>and related issues for The Washington Post. Frances find Google

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<v Speaker 1>many millions of dollars. Brian joins is now Hello Brian,

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<v Speaker 1>how are you, sir, do it all right? Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>having me, It's always our pleasure. So well, why did

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<v Speaker 1>the French come down on Google to the tune of

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<v Speaker 1>fifty seven mill Well, the French said Google hasn't been

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<v Speaker 1>clear enough about how, um, you know, it provides choices

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<v Speaker 1>for consumers when they're trying to decide whether or not

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<v Speaker 1>um to sign up for Google services and use them. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And as a result, Google now had to pay about

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<v Speaker 1>fifty seven billions I'm sorry, fifty seven million dollars um

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<v Speaker 1>to uh to the French regulators who brought this fine

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<v Speaker 1>against them. So are the namby pamby French courts saying

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, my, uh, what Google is going to

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<v Speaker 1>do with my data? Spread over seventy five densely written

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<v Speaker 1>legalis papers, scattered across multiple documents, isn't good enough information

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<v Speaker 1>for consumers? Well you know the rules that um you know,

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<v Speaker 1>Google goal allegedly ran a foul of g d PR

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<v Speaker 1>is a big topic in Europe right now because it

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<v Speaker 1>went into effect last year and it's caused um, you

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<v Speaker 1>know a lot of companies to have to rethink and

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<v Speaker 1>reconsider how they provide notice to consumers about how their

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<v Speaker 1>data is used. UM. And in this case, it seems

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, the the uh Google, Google and its

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<v Speaker 1>services failed to provide adequate notice to consumers, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>what regulators are really going in after here. So are

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<v Speaker 1>Europeans just more into privacy than we are in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, or or Google didn't do as good a

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<v Speaker 1>job lobbying or what do you have any idea? Well, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, if you talk to a lot of regulatory experts, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>they do, by and large say, you know, Europe places

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<v Speaker 1>a premium on privacy in ways that we don't really

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<v Speaker 1>here in the United States. Um. They're also in Europe

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<v Speaker 1>much more open to preemptive regulation than the United States

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<v Speaker 1>is where you know. Here, typically what happens is, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a government agency will uh draft you know,

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<v Speaker 1>guidelines or um proposals on things, and then um, it's

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<v Speaker 1>rarely a law that gets put into place, and then um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, an agency will bring an investigation and then

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<v Speaker 1>if it finds that a company did something wrong, it

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<v Speaker 1>will take that company to court and then that gets

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<v Speaker 1>hashed out of the judicial system. Uh. It's a very

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<v Speaker 1>different system than what they have in Europe, where they're

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<v Speaker 1>very clear, bright line rules up front for companies to

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<v Speaker 1>follow the short answers. They regulate everything UM, and so

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<v Speaker 1>they're super willing and sometimes that results in doing things

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<v Speaker 1>that I think are a really good idea. Often not.

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<v Speaker 1>You also have a lot of population, though that has

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<v Speaker 1>much more recently. Had a government UM misusing their powers

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<v Speaker 1>ryan information and all that sort of stuff, they might

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<v Speaker 1>they might prize their information more. Yeah, you know, that's

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<v Speaker 1>an interesting point. Culturally speaking, people were dragged out of

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<v Speaker 1>their homes in Europe, uh, you know, much more recently

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<v Speaker 1>than in the United States. Brian Fung the Wampos Online

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<v Speaker 1>covers Tech matters. Do you this is hard to predict.

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<v Speaker 1>This is more of a political cultural question than a

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<v Speaker 1>tech think And you're a tech guy, But do you

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<v Speaker 1>think those kind of laws are company in the United States?

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<v Speaker 1>That's a great question. It's something that a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>folks in Washington are trying to figure out right now. UM. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's a big topic of debate here. You have

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<v Speaker 1>you know, privacy advocates who are calling for UM the

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<v Speaker 1>Federal Trade Commission, which is sort of the United States

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<v Speaker 1>top data protection agency UM to get involved in UM,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, regulating companies like Google more heavily. Um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>the FTC is currently engaged in investigating Facebook over whether

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<v Speaker 1>or not Facebook violated a consent decree that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>an agreement it's signed with the FTC in eleven UM

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<v Speaker 1>governing consumers privacy. Um. You have a number of lawmakers

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<v Speaker 1>who have proposed legislation that could implement a national privacy

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<v Speaker 1>law that would cover all fifty states. UM. So this

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<v Speaker 1>there's definitely a lot of conversation happening around privacy and

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<v Speaker 1>how data is used by these companies. UM. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>at this point, we don't have anything that's on the

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<v Speaker 1>books that will necessarily lead to finds like the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of we saw Google getting hit with. If you'd like

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<v Speaker 1>to know more, we'll have a link at Armstrong and

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<v Speaker 1>Guetty dot com to Brian's story. Brian, it's always enlightening.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks a bunch, Thanks for having me. It's our pleasure. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>speaking of the Wappo, it was wasn't long ago that

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<v Speaker 1>they published a story we talked about that Google is

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<v Speaker 1>the number one lobbyist in America. Everybody should know that

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<v Speaker 1>at this point in twenty there's one reason for us.

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<v Speaker 1>There's one reason A lot of times it's complicated, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>big lobby in it. This one's simple. They their entire

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<v Speaker 1>model is you use Google, They get all your info,

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<v Speaker 1>they make money off of it, don't regulate anything about

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<v Speaker 1>privacy or online advertising. That is why Google spent, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen million dollars. In the numbers feen aren't quite out.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm guessing spreading in among Republicans and Democrats to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure both sides of the aisle are covered in making

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<v Speaker 1>sure we don't go with European style laws. The prickly

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<v Speaker 1>libertarianism of the Armstrong and Getty show is very big

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<v Speaker 1>in Silicon Valley, and we appreciate folks listening there. I

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<v Speaker 1>would like to make it clear to Google that I

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<v Speaker 1>can be bought for about two million dollars. I will

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<v Speaker 1>alter any in all opinions about you and an online

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<v Speaker 1>privacy and online advertising again to million United States dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>and I, Joe Getty will be bought to me. The

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<v Speaker 1>idea that that information belongs to them is just is silly.

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<v Speaker 1>I understand the argument or you don't have to use Google, right,

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<v Speaker 1>It's a decent enough legalistic argument that we offer a

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<v Speaker 1>service you don't have to use a smartphone. There in

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<v Speaker 1>our seventy five pages of user agreements, again scattered over

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<v Speaker 1>three different documents that you'd have to hire a team

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<v Speaker 1>of lawyers to inspect. We make it clear to you

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<v Speaker 1>what we're gonna do with it, and you said, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's fine, clear right, And that was actually a part

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<v Speaker 1>of what the French court said. They said, essentially, you

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<v Speaker 1>would have to do so much research to understand this.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just not realistic, which you know, Viva le France,

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<v Speaker 1>I say hello again. You know, it's funny. Life's complicated

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<v Speaker 1>that that you subtlety shades are gray. France regulates everything

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<v Speaker 1>to the point that they've choked their economy to death,

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<v Speaker 1>and cute little Macrone is trying his best to tangle it.

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<v Speaker 1>I think in this case they've probably done something I

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<v Speaker 1>can right, They're right, it's my information. It is my

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<v Speaker 1>unless I opt in to give it away. No, it's

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<v Speaker 1>mine right where I go, what I buy all that stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>By the way, I googled the fact that Google was

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<v Speaker 1>the biggest lobbyist and and that was the number one result.

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<v Speaker 1>So I appreciate that they didn't bury it seven pages

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<v Speaker 1>deep or anything. There. It was when you're ready to

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<v Speaker 1>ride Metro. We want you to know we're ready for you.

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<v Speaker 1>Here are just a few of the people at Metro

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<v Speaker 1>to tell you how we're doing our part to keep

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<v Speaker 1>writers safe. Were cleaning like novel before half to a

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<v Speaker 1>great Queen. You've found a hand sound of sounds of statist,

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<v Speaker 1>no mask, no Metro need one. We have a few

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<v Speaker 1>extras at Metro. We're doing our part to keep the

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<v Speaker 1>DC area moving. Find out more at well mata dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>slash doing our part