Subj : Weekly nodelist report on noteworthy changes (113)
To   : Matthias Hertzog
From : Michiel van der Vlist
Date : Sun Apr 25 2021 10:30:22

Hello Matthias,

On Saturday April 24 2021 11:58, you wrote to me:

 MV>> it is my understanding that the scope of the GDPR is not limited to
 MV>> organisations offering paid services, it also applies to volunteer
 MV>> organisations where no money changes hands. Such as Fidonet.

 MH> That's disputed, at least here in switzerland.

Swiss lawyers can dispute it in Switserland, but when push comes to shove it will be decided in the EU court and that court will rule according to the EU interpretation of the rules, not the Swiss interpretation. What it boils down to is: "wan't to play our game? play by our rules".

 MH> Ahhhh, that whole GDPR thing sucks.

I can understand why you see it that way, but I beg to differ. As an EU citizen I am happy that the EU protects my privacy against ruthless data horders not only in the EU, but outside the EU as well. That it can sometimes be inconvenient when I am on the data gathering side is something that I accept.

 MH>>> Therefore, GDPR does not apply to FidoNet Region 2:30.

 MV>> Are you sure? Have you asked a lawyer?

 MH> I've done the DGPR compliance on my previous job, so yes, i've asked
 MH> a lawyer, even several of them. Instead of better answers i've got
 MH> more questions. As long as there are no cases in switzerland, we have
 MH> no real point of reference. We have a lot of opinions, but even among
 MH> the swiss lawyers, the opinions are "controversial", to say it a nice
 MH> way.

That is to be expected. As I said, wehen push comes to shove, it will be the EU court that decides.

 MH> As one consequence of GDPR, we had to cancel the contracts with all
 MH> our EU clients,

If the organisation can not or will not follow the rules of the GDPR that can indeed be a consequence. Play our game? Follow our rules. It is a choice...

 MH> but that's another story. I better don't tell more about this here, or
 MH> i might need a lawyer by myself. Ooops!

I agree with you that R30 probably does not belong in the list of countries where the GDPR applies to Fidonet. The list as published in the header of the nodelist.

Let's leave it at that before we drift too far from the  topic of this conference.

Cheers, Michiel

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