In this article titled “Stern Words, and a Pea-Size Punishment, for Google” the author writes of the inadequate maximum penalties that are in no way deterring big corporations like Google from violating certain data protection laws in Europe. The current fines are set at a maximum of 150,000 euros or 195,000 dollars. As the article states, that is how much Google makes about every two minutes. With such meager fines these huge corporations will not feel any pressure to abide by the data protection laws. Lawmaker’s in Europe are considering changing the current data protection law to include fines of up to 2% annual earnings. Google was recently charged with violating the law in Germany as well as prompting investigations in several other countries for taking photos for its Street View maps, as well as “collecting data like like e-mail messages and photos over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, outraging consumers and privacy advocates.” Google has been sued numerous times in America for various privacy violations and settled for millions of dollars, including a 22.5 million dollar settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Do you think greater fines will lead to less violations and more privacy or will the benefits of violating the laws always outway the risk of high fines? Should there be something else done about this problem, such as stricter laws or more transparency?