Germany bans Microsoft from schools: when privacy is bigger than innovation
Europe says no in a way America cannot.
Germany bans Microsoft from schools: when privacy is bigger than innovation
Europe says no in a way America cannot.
Germany banned Microsoft from schools. Not slowly. Not tentatively. A certain data protection authority said: no. Microsoft collects children's data. That's not allowed.
America said nothing. America said: innovation! Education! Microsoft is good for schools. Why sacrifice privacy for children's fortune?
This difference between America and Europe is more interesting than either position alone.
America thinks in possibilities. This could generate innovation. This could generate growth. This could expand profit margins. Privacy is a constraint. Is friction. Is "I want to but can't."
Europe thinks in rights. You have the right to privacy. My company cannot violate that. Yes, Microsoft might be better. Yes, it might generate more innovation. But not on the backs of children whose data I'm not allowed to collect.
Interesting is that Germany can do this. Because of GDPR. Because Europe said: privacy is a fundamental right. The Netherlands enforces that too. As do France, Belgium. If Microsoft collects children's data without strict consent, it's not allowed.
America can't say this. Because America has no overarching privacy law. Each state has different rules. Companies can state-hop, saying "your rules are too strict" and migrate to weaker ones.
This is why Big Tech grows in America. Not because Americans are smarter. But because they can.
This is also why iRecord is necessary. Dutch government, European government, they currently have no way to do identity verification without centralizing databases. Without trusting municipalities to data on Microsoft, Google, or IBM. So they use it. Not because they want to. Because they have no alternative.
iRecord gives them an alternative. Decentralized. Local. Where the citizen controls. This fits European values. This fits GDPR. This could even work in Germany.
What interests me is how this plays out. If iRecord succeeds in Netherlands, other European countries can adopt it. Then we have an identity-tech stack that's European, not American. That's not small.
Germany banned Microsoft because privacy was bigger. That's weird in the global business climate. But it's right.
Sources: Datenschutzbehörde Baden-Württemberg decision statement (2023); GDPR Article 8 guidance on children's data; European Commission 'A Europe fit for the Digital Age'
Source: Datenschutzbehörde Baden-Württemberg; GDPR case law; 'Europe vs. Big Tech' (BBC, 2024)