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>What is the deal with the governments of the British Isles being so intrusive and privacy hostile?

I don't consider Ireland to be a "British Isle" -- 26 counties out of 32 on the island are Irish.

How and ever -- we see the US in the same light. You're so hostile to privacy laws like GDPR and we aren't etc.



The "British Isles" is a geographic term encompassing Great Britain and Ireland, plus some smaller islands.


This is technically correct, but no context is devoid of political overtones and there's very reasonable arguments for decolonising the terminology.

"British Isles" is the widely accepted term internationally in large part due to the historical dominance of the British Empire, coupled with the ongoing influence of the British state internationally (particularly in the anglosphere). It is however not a generally preferred term within Ireland, which is worth noting alongside any technical facts about geography.


You're correct, and I'm British, but it's not surprising to me that an Irishman would object to it.

Besides, to us 'English Channel' is a geographic term; in France it's La Manche ('the sleeve'). (Having said that we do say 'Irish Sea'.)


Quite correct. Just like “GB” (“Great Britain” or “Grand Bretagne” in the original French) means “large Brittany”.


Bizarre comment. British isles is a geographic term, which is correct in this case.

No one for a moment is suggesting that because of that you have to drink tea or invent the computer or anything else that is considered British.


> You're so hostile to privacy laws like GDPR and we aren't etc.

You're arguing about an entirely different context. One involves private corporations, one involves the powers of the government. It's critical to make a distinction between those things, they are not the same issue at all.

Facebook, fortunately, doesn't have taxing authority, regulatory authority, law-passing authority or a private militia. I can banish Facebook from my existence, I can choose never to use their services, and I can legally use numerous options for blocking their ability to track me (and do so quite easily). Try doing that with a government that passes a very invasive law, just tell them to right piss off with their laws, refuse to obey their laws.

It's fine to argue for restrictions on privacy invasion re private corporations. However these are two separate matters to be argued, what should be allowed in the private sphere vs the public/government sphere.




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