GDPR’s impact: The first six months
GDPR is now six months old – it’s time to take an assessment of the regulation’s impact so far. At first blush it would appear very little has changed. There are no well-publicized actions being taken against offenders. No large fines levied. So does this mean its yet another regulation that will be ignored? Actually nothing could be farther from the truth.
The day GDPR came into law complaints were filed by data subjects against Facebook and Google. Complaints – that does not sound like action by regulators, in fact its not – its action taken by lawyers. GDPR is a much-evolved form of European regulation allowing data subjects to file suits against data collectors whom they believe are violating their rights. This battle is going to be fought in 28 EU countries courts much sooner than in their Data Protection commissioners ministries who enforce the law and handout fines for violations.
Activist legal teams like Austrian noyb and its founder Max Schrems who had a strong hand in drafting GDPR are taking up these complaints. Meanwhile activist Privacy International is going after the likes of Oracle – filing complaints in the UK along similar lines as to the claims against Google and Facebook in that there is ongoing disregard to establishing legitimate-use of data collected and a disregard of individual’s rights because in fact those individuals do not know their data is being collected, so there is no expectation they can ask that their data be removed.
Regulator action will take time – six months is too early to get a proper read. Yet, we can still get a feel for what is going on by looking at what’s happening in a given country. The UK is interesting; their Information Commissioner predates GDPR as UKs privacy regulations go back to 1998. The UK commissioner is currently publishing findings and leveling fines after investigations for activities dating back to 2016. That gives us a feel for how long investigations may take under GDPR.
Perhaps we will not know the full impact for another two years to the magnitude of fines levied. Facebook’s challenges with Cambridge Analytica were lucky in that they fell under the prior law resulting in a smaller 500K GDP fine than the billions allowed by GDPR. Breaches at British Airways and others, which took place since GDPR became active, are being carefully monitored to see if in fact they were properly reported to the UK commission within the 72-hour limit of being discovered.
The hotbed for US companies is Dublin as Ireland is where many US companies have their European headquarters. Helen Dixon, the current Republic of Ireland Commissioner, and her office is one of the busiest in Europe working with these companies as they scrabble to be complaint under the law.
GDPR has had influence internationally – 10 countries including Canada, whose law just went active this month, now have very similar laws. California also has a much-watered down version that went into affect as well. None of these laws carry the same fines, but most allow for litigation. California is just one of 26 states that have such laws on the books. These laws vary widely in their rules. Because of this the Internet Association, an influential lobby group for Internet based companies, has come out indicating it would be for a single US law to provide uniform privacy assurance.
The difference being in how they want the law to be written. Here is an example: Google’s Android OS terms and conditions states that the user, by activating their service, consents to Google’s collection of their personal data across All Google products for any use. Today once you activate you can’t go back and ask them to remove you. The Internet Association’s President Michael Beckerman, states that individuals should have a right to ask what has been collected and then have this information removed – If they discontinue using the product/service. The difference is GDPR does not force you to disconnect your $1000 phone.
Given all that, perhaps its not surprising that Apple CEO, Tim Cook, has come out strongly in favor of having a similar strength version of GDPR here in the USA. Apparently they don’t collect the same data that Google, Facebook and Amazon do. Score one for capitalism?
All-in-all GDPR has had a subtle but extremely influential impact in the Internet world already. With all the lawyers involved, it’s not likely going by the wayside anytime soon.
source helpnetsecurity
Industry: Cyber Security News
Latest Jobs
-
- Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK
- England
- N/A
-
Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK UK | Remote / Hybrid A cyber security provider is seeking a Public Sector Sales professional to drive growth across UK government and public sector organisations. Must have current Cyber Security sales experience. Responsibilities Generate new business selling cyber security solutions into UK public sector Build relationships with CIO, CISO and senior technology stakeholders Manage the full sales cycle from opportunity to contract close Develop pipeline across central government, local government and public sector bodies Support bids, tenders and framework opportunities Experience Proven cyber security sales experience in the UK Track record selling into public sector organisations Familiarity with CCS, G Cloud or other government frameworks Strong stakeholder engagement and deal management skills Location UK based Security Requirements Eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance
-
- Security Architect | MoD - Security Cleared. OUTSIDE IR35 | Hampshire
- N/A
- Outside IR35
-
Security Architect | MOD | Security Cleared | Outside IR35 | Hampshire Commutable The successful candidate must be willing to undergo DV Clearance, ideally already holding active clearance. You will produce high and low level security architecture documentation, guiding and validating designs for systems deployed within sensitive environments. The role requires providing specialist security input into solution design, service transition and change initiatives, working closely with engineering, operations, client and third party stakeholders. You must have current hands on architectural experience, including VMware secure platform design and virtualisation architecture, alongside AWS expertise. This is an outside IR35 contract- 6 month rolling. Part of a longer term MoD project
-
- Active Directory | RBA engineer | UK Remote | SC Clearable
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Technical Active Directory (AD) and RBA specialist needed to play a key part in complex, enterprise scale Active Directory and access transformation programmes. You will work alongside senior team, helping reshape access models, modernise legacy directory structures and strengthen security posture across secure environments. This is hands on delivery within high impact projects where your work directly improves access control, compliance and operational resilience. Active UK Security Clearance required. This is a remote role with client travel. Implementation of Role Based Access Control across large AD estates Restructuring complex permission models, security groups and delegated access Supporting domain controller upgrades and core directory improvements Applying security hardening standards and remediating audit findings Enhancing authentication, policy and access governance frameworks Troubleshooting and resolving technical AD challenges within live environments Producing robust technical documentation and identifying project risks You must have the following technical experience Enterprise Active Directory administration Role Based Access and permission remediation OU design and governance Group Policy management Security group delegation models DNS and DHCP services Kerberos authentication / NTLM PowerShell scripting and automation Azure AD | Entra ID Hybrid identity environments Identity Governance PAM
-
- Identity and Access Management Consultant (Saviynt & Microsoft Entra) | UK
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Role summary Technical IAM consultant delivering identity governance and cloud identity solutions to enterprise clients. What you will do Implement / Configure / Deploy Saviynt IGA / Microsoft Entra solutions: Lead technical workshops, gather requirements and translate into solution designs. Troubleshoot complex issues, support testing and deployments. Produce technical artefacts and configuration guides. Key skills Hands-on Saviynt IGA experience (workflow, connectors, access governance). Strong practical knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD identity and access controls. Understanding of identity protocols (SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect) and hybrid identity. Experience with APIs / REST for integrations and automation. What we are looking for Proven delivery experience in IAM / IGA projects, preferably in consulting. Confident communicator with client-facing delivery exposure.