A Look Back at GDPR

The EU General Data Protection Regulation has been in operation for over a year now, with reports stating varied levels of success. Designed as a way to help ensure the protection of user data in a rapidly digitising world, it's difficult to argue against the goals of this regulatory set, but how well have they held up in practice?

What is GDPR?

GDPR, as many are still unaware, is a set of regulations designed to operate within the internet of the EU, and with any exterior industry which operates within the EU. As concerns over massive data and privacy breaches from the likes of Google and Facebook have brought a global concern to this area, GDPR was designed as a fix.

GDPR accomplished this goal by putting far stricter rules on how and where user data can be stored. It also broadens the definition of what entails user data to include the formerly overlooked areas of IP addresses, mobile identifiers, and biometric data such as fingerprints.

In simple terms, it GDPR is supposed to help keep your identity and data safe.

"Europe GDPR PD" (Public Domain) by Harakir

How successful has GDPR been?

Ultimately, the level of success which GDPR has enjoyed has varied wildly. In some aspects, it has been a smashing success, while in others it has massively underperformed.

The greatest levels of success have been born from the websites which have efficiently adopted the new regulations in stride. Some of these, such as the casinos in this Casino Wings great guide updated without issue. As playing casino games and gathering bonuses has always necessitated a strict level of safety, the adaption in areas such as this is perhaps unsurprising.

Also successful, though in a very different manner, has been the detection of sites which failed to reach new GDPR standards. As it can be relatively simple to determine whether a website or service complies with GDPR, this has led to many failures being quickly identified.

The problems of GDPR stem from how little actual action has been taken against those who breach GDPR standards. The guidelines of the GDPR state that potential penalties here are profound, and can reach up to 4 percent of a company’s annual revenue. As the former penalties were often so weak and open to interpretation, the hope was that harsher penalties could help incentivise GDPR adoption.

"google uk hq" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by osde8info

According to a report from the European Data Protection Board, these claims are surprisingly minimal. As of late 2019, such claims have brought in nearly €56 million in fines, but most of that came from a single fine levied at Google early in the year.

This doesn’t exactly paint this aspect of GDPR as an element of efficiency or progress, which some argue might undercut the regulations as a whole.

Going Forward

As we enter 2020 and beyond, the hope is that GDPR will only become more pronounced and better implemented. Current shortcomings, if not addressed, might lead to situations where some less-than-moral websites ignore GDPR completely. With security as great a concern as ever and the likes of Google and Facebook still doing their best to erode or circumvent rights, GDPR arrived just in time, that is provided the governing body has the teeth to follow through.