If you can’t beat ‘em…hand over control: That’s how Facebook is dealing with the E.U.’s upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will give Europeans unprecedented management over their personal digital data. Which raises the question: Are you prepared for the upcoming online privacy law changes?
FACEBOOK’S GDPR FIX: MORE USER CONTROL
Instead of implementing specific patches to accommodate the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation, Sheryl Sandberg announced plans to roll out “a new privacy center globally that will put the core privacy settings for Facebook in one place and make it much easier for people to manage their data.”
Sandberg praised the new system:
“Our apps have long been focused on giving people transparency and control and this gives us a very good foundation to meet all the requirements of the GDPR and to spur us on to continue investing in products and in educational tools to protect privacy.”
DO U.S. BUSINESSES NEED TO COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL ONLINE PRIVACY LAWS?
Must stateside websites and businesses comply with the GDPR? In many cases, yes! If your website or app is available to users in Europe, or if you collect personal information from European citizens, then it must meet the terms of international digital privacy standards.
What’s the penalty for dodging the General Data Protection Regulation?
“Companies found to be in breach of the law face a maximum penalty of 4 percent of global annual turnover or 20 million euros ($24.50 million), whichever is greater.” The EU is definitely not playing around when it comes to GDPR enforcement, it your business is not compliant it could cost you a lot of money.
The EU is definitely not playing around when it comes to GDPR enforcement, it your business is not compliant it could cost you a lot of money.
E.U. LEGISLATORS: GET SERIOUS ABOUT DATA SECURITY OR WE’LL GET SERIOUS ABOUT REGULATIONS!
In addition to the new privacy control dashboard, Facebook is also doubling its security team, from about 10,000 to 20,000. The increase isn’t surprising, because over the past several years, E.U. regulators have been urging social media companies to better handle both extremist propaganda and online privacy problems. If they don’t do a better job of self-policing, warns the European Union, it’ll have no other option than to pass more regulations.
CONNECT WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ONLINE PRIVACY LAWYER
GDPR rules come into force on May 25, 2018. Is your business compliant with the new regulations? Does it need to be? Get in touch with our international online privacy law practice. We’ll examine your operation and determine if you need to comply with the new General Data Protection Regulation standards.