Be careful with e-mails with an open mailing list

This error can result in a hefty fine. A small mistake when sending an e-mail can quickly cost thousands of euros. You can find out here how you can avoid getting into a sticky situation in the first place.

At least since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), all sorts of legal stumbling blocks have been lurking in the handling of personal data. Such a mistake can also happen quickly when sending e-mails – and without realizing it.

Bavarians

Bavarians (Bavarian: Boarn, Standard German: Baiern) are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The group’s dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern (“Old Bavaria”), roughly the territory of the Electorate of Bavaria in the 17th century.

Like the neighboring Austrians, Bavarians are traditionally Catholic. In much of Altbayern, membership in the Catholic Church remains above 70%, and the center-right Christian Social Union in Bavaria (successor of the Bavarian People’s Party of 1919–1933) has traditionally been the strongest party in the Landtag, and also the party of all Ministers-President of Bavaria since 1946, with the single exception of Wilhelm Hoegner, 1954–1957.

German data storage laws ‘threaten free trade’

Germany’s data storage laws are comparable to those of Russia and China, according to a top US tech think tank. Forcing companies to store data locally hinders the global digital economy, the ITIF argues.

Germany is up there with Russia, China, Turkey, and Indonesia on a list of countries that pursue protectionist policies that damage global technological innovation, according to a leading US think tank.

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released a report this week arguing that Germany’s data storage law, which was updated in 2015 to tighten cybersecurity, was a potentially damaging hindrance to free trade.

The 2015 law change forced telecom companies to store metadata locally in Germany, rather than anywhere else – even in the European Union. This amendment “potentially violates rules that protect the freedom of services…  and the free flow of personal data” protected by EU laws, the ITIF said in its report entitled “The Worst Innovation Mercantilist Policies of 2016.”

But some German economists were skeptical. Barbara Engels, digitization specialist at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IWK), seemed surprised by the ITIF’s accusation. “I don’t see a problem the way this institute does,” she told DW. “I don’t really see exactly how it should hinder innovation.”

Federalism in Germany: Small states are annoying! Glad we have them!

December 2018. 16 school systems, 16 police forces, 16 constitutional courts: German federalism often seems inefficient and outdated, most recently with the digital pact. A look at history shows what makes small states so valuable – at least when they don’t degenerate.

It seems bizarre: the federal government wants to give the states five billion euros to digitize schools – and only then should the Basic Law be changed. The mediation committee is called, a coalition is in dispute – and all because Germany is a federal state.

The constitutionally enshrined division of Germany into federal states was born out of historical experience, has grown over a long time and also shows some signs of use, almost 70 years after the Basic Law came into force.

Besserwisser

Wikipedia: A know-it-all is colloquially referred to as a person who expresses their opinion in an instructive and intrusive manner and thus gives the impression that they have more knowledge or education in certain (or in all) matters or can judge better than others.

People take offense at the behavior of such know-it-alls – not so much because they are envious of their knowledge (alleged or actual), but because they teach others uninvited, but are closed to the opinions, arguments and knowledge of other people.

This creates an air of arrogance and lack of tact. Exaggerated competitive behavior is also perceived as unpleasant by people who are discussing less out of interest in the topic than to be right.

Besserwisser literally besser, better + wisser, from wissen, to know. Better-knower.

After the presidential election in France: German know-it-alls don’t help

German nagging at the European policy proposals of the victorious French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron is counterproductive.

Had Marine Le Pen been elected President of France, it would probably have spelled the end of the EU. This warning could be heard all over Europe until last Sunday evening – not least in Germany. Now the social liberal Emmanuel Macron is the new head of state in the neighboring country, and what is happening in Germany?

After the first sigh of relief, a reflexive debate is held as to whether or not the frowned upon euro bonds will come with the change of power in Paris. On the one hand this is a phantom discussion, on the other hand it is a symptom of Franco-German alienation.

Surviving the Germans’ extreme online privacy

Moving from Israel to Germany, DW’s Dana Regev was surprised to learn just how seriously Germans take their privacy. Here’s how she survived.

Before scolding me for this headline alone, allow me to stress that I fully support people’s efforts to protect their own data, and gain control over how their personal information is being used by organizations, businesses or governments.

Apple, for example, is currently facing harsh criticism by European privacy activists who say the company uses software that tracks the behavior of iPhone users.

A Vienna-based group called NOYB has even asked data protection authorities in Germany to examine the legality of unique codes that they say amount to tracking without users’ knowledge or consent, a practice banned under strict European Union privacy rules.

But if you’re used to less strict privacy rules, you might be in for a surprise around Germans.

Bavaria: tradition in danger

Günther Hochhäuser is a passionate marksman who fights to maintain the traditions of his homeland, Upper Bavaria. The Christian Social Union, who has been in power here for decades, could get a drubbing in upcoming elections — to Hochhäuser’s dismay.

Marksmen’s clubs stand for everything Bavaria is famous for: folk costumes, cultural lore and tradition. Their chairmen include illustrious public figures, such as former Pope Benedict and Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria.

Marksman Günther Hochhäuser says “We are a pillar of strength.” But that pillar looks to be on increasingly shaky ground. Bavaria and even the seemingly timeless Inn-Chiemgau shooting club are being overtaken by the tides of change. Until recently, voting for the conservative CSU party was a given.

But recent polls say that the CSU will suffer big losses in the upcoming state elections. Many Bavarians are angry that German interior minister Horst Seehofer, a member of the CSU, recently came close to bringing down the country’s governing coalition. Axel Rowohlt reports.

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