In less than a month, the European Union will force companies around the world to take a closer look at how they handle the data of individuals.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) official goes into effect on May 25. It is a regulation that is already reportedly causing the liked of Facebook and Google to squirm.
It is a complex and lengthy regulation that aims to protect the privacy in general, and the data specifically, of EU citizens. Its reach will go far behind that, however; the regulation’s jurisdiction does not end at the EU’s borders. Every company that deals with an EU citizen will be within the regulation’s reach, and any company the fails to comply faces heavy fines.
In the light of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, it is becoming increasingly apparent that new data laws are desperately needed. Even US lawmakers are already asking if GDPR, or a version close to it, should be adopted there. The more countries that enact similar regulations will only boast the compliance of all companies.
Just how well this law works will be heavily scrutinised, especially its efforts to extends it jurisdiction overseas. But new technology requires new laws, and the EU far more than anyone else is setting itself up in a leader in data protection.
