Having just had fun with replacing a bathroom door knob that involved far more power tools than expected I'm not sure I can agree.

The tools might work. But then you discover the plumber from 20 years ago did something crazy. Or the wiring makes a left turn in the space between 1st and 2nd floor for some reason. Thee dimmer switch that was $15 and should have taken 10 min to install actually does not have enough clearance behind it because a drain pipe is there, and so you need a special smaller size electrical box or you need to cut holes in the wall. Etc, etc.

Just another day in the life of a legacy enterprise project maintainer.

Seriously. I bought a house to renovate and the painting turned into a drywall refactoring thanks to the chemical peel used by the previous owners…I fixed up one bathroom that actually needs a tear out just to make a deadline for move in…bath tear out was pushed out to the next major update planned…

Sure, and they can also chop your hand off or otherwise seriously harm you.

Fuck up something handling PII and the GDPR fines can seriously harm you...

Comparing the permanent loss of a limb to a possible fine to a corporation for mishandling data is a bit out of touch.

Ever since their power tool accident they’ve been all out of touch…

Looking at all the documented (not that many) large GDPR fines, I haven't noticed any that are the result of a company (much less a developer) accidentally 'fucking up' - they are all the result of an intentional policy or an unethical management decision intentionally screwing people.

If you simply fuck up during your development, the most you'll get in practice is a letter from the regulator requiring you to change the fucked up thing; Fines arrive when management refuses to change the fucked up thing and tries to invent a loophole instead.

Not really. They’ll harm the company, if anyone notices, but not you personally.

The fact that everyone is breaching the GDPR left and right and that Equifax is still around suggests the opposite.