General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Overview

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law signed by the European Parliament and Council for governing the protection and privacy of data for citizens of the European Union. The law would give citizens more control over their data than the companies that host the data, requiring consent from individuals for data processing, making that collected data anonymous, providing notifications in cases of data breaches, requiring companies to hire data protection officers and safely handling data transfers across borders.

Background

On April 14th, 2016, the GDRP was adopted the European Union,^[1] replacing the 1995 Data Protection Directive.^[2] This resolution was made after four years of debate, drafting and negotiations. According to the European Parliament, the new provisions include:

• a right to be forgotten,
• clear and affirmative consent" to the processing of private data by the person concerned,
• a right to transfer your data to another service provider,
• the right to know when your data has been hacked,
• ensuring that privacy policies are explained in clear and understandable language, and
• stronger enforcement and fines up to 4% of firms' total worldwide annual turnover, as a deterrent to breaking the rules.

Failing to comply with the ordnance by its implementation date of May 25th, 2018 results in "€20 million, or 4% of the worldwide annual revenue of the prior financial year."^[3]

Developments

As the May 25th, 2018 deadline approached, social media and other websites required, such as Facebook users review their privacy settings to comply with the upcoming law.^[5] Additionally, the law required that companies operating outside of the E.U. comply with the regulations.

Online Reaction

On February 2nd, 2018, Redditor^[10] Hogron555 posted "The EU's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be the biggest overhaul of global privacy rules in over 20 years: EU citizens receive sweeping new powers over how their data can be collected, used and stored, and it will affect laws worldwide by imposing hefty fines for non-compliance" in the /r/Futurology subreddit. The post received more than 1,600 points (98% upvoted) 85 comments.

On April 26th, 2018, Redditor Asplozion posted in the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[4] subreddit, "Why are social media platforms updating their terms and services on May 25?" They elaborated in the post with the question, "So recently I've noticed that when I go on some social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram there is a pop-up that mentions they're updating their privacy conditions. This is pretty standard from company to company, but it seems like they're all updating specifically on May 25. What happened?" The post received more than 3,400 points (95% upvoted) and 400 comments in 24 hours.

Email Notification Reaction

As virtually every major website that requires user data updated their privacy policy in accordance with the GDPR policies, they began emailing users about the change. The abundance of emails led to a series of jokes and memes about the policy, specifically ones that asked, "Do you still want to get my emails after the GDPR takes effect," which became a de facto catchphrase for the change.

On May 23rd, 2018, Twitter ^[11] user @Tweet_Dec posted the image of Trump Yelling at Lawn-mowing Boy with the caption "DO YOU STILL WANT TO GET MY EMAILS AFTER GDPR TAKES EFFECT." The post (shown below, left) received more than 900 retweets and 2,900 likes in two days.

That day, Twitter^[12] user @_Katenip posted a painting of a woman looking at the viewer as a smiling man spoke into her ear with the same caption. The post (shown below, center) received more than 1,400 retweets and 3,800 likes in two days.

Twitter user @TechnicallyRon tweeted,^[13] "GDPR email 1: We are changing the way we store data GDPR email 2: You need to update your subscription to keep getting emails GDPR email 3: Look you twat we need your updated details GDPR email 4: We love you please update your settings GDPR email 5: STOP IGNORING US YOU BELL." Within 48 hours, the tweet (shown below, right) received more than 1,000 retweets and 4,000 likes in two days.

The following day, Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson tweeted a parody of the Star Wars Opening Crawl that featured the text from a GDPR email. The post (shown below) received more than 31,000 retweets and 98,000 likes in 24 hours.

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the GDRP, including BBC,^[6] Forbes,^[7] Business Insider,^[8] Tech Crunch^[9] and more.

Search Interest

External References