Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines | Proton
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Big Tech (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft)'s annual revenue dwarfs total fines. The cost for privacy is insignificant to them.
  • kirklennon@kbin.social
    1277·
    2 years ago
    1. This is advertising. It’s not the most worst example, but it’s still fundamentally an ad.
    2. Revenue is absolutely the wrong metric to use. If you had $100 of revenue and $99 in costs, you have only $1 left to pay your fines. Amazon did not earn enough to pay its fines in 1 hour and 50 minutes because most of that that money was used to buy and deliver the products, plus various other expenses. The blog post is misstating the numbers by over an order of magnitude for some of the companies. If you’re going to do it, do it right at least. The profit numbers are just as easy to come by as revenue.
      • Critical_Insight@feddit.ukEnglish
        403·
        2 years ago

        Intentionally misrepresenting facts is not how one should try and make a point though. It just makes people cynical and distrustful.

          • Gamoc@lemmy.worldEnglish
            133·
            2 years ago

            It is astonishing to me that, in explaining why “baselessly ascribing malicious intent” is bad you have, in fact, baselessly ascribed the malicious intent of sowing distrust and killing of discussion to the person you are responding to. Incredibly quick hypocrisy turn around there.

            Arguably it doesn’t matter if its maliciousness or incompetence, the result is the same.

            • Brainsploosh@lemmy.worldEnglish
              112·
              2 years ago

              Ah, but you’re just saying that as a professional troll.

              Now compare that to: I think you’re mistaken, intent matters, and I believe extending trust that both parties want to convey something, rather than just dismiss others, is necessary for a discussion, and also for a communal discourse. If we’re just shouting into the void, no trust is needed, but for interactions and building a sense of community, we will need both trust and norms of collaboration.

              • Gamoc@lemmy.worldEnglish
                71·
                2 years ago

                You’ve just ascribed malicious intent to me, further demonstrating your own hypocrisy.

                If you believe you second paragraph, why do you keep contradicting yourself?

                The second paragraph also sounds like manipulative bullshit coming from someone who’s misrepresenting facts. The spirit of collaboration and communal discourse that you’re paying lip service to is smothered by lies and mistruths. You need to rethink how you do things, you’re a walking anachronism.

    • residentmarchant@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      2 years ago

      The fines are part of their outgoing expenses, though, so at least some of that $99 in your example is going to pay these very fines