After the US’s move toward less privacy recently, it seems that the EU is moving in the opposite direction. Their new privacy laws are more strict than previous versions, at least if we take them as they are. The question is, can the new laws be uniformly enforced? Reuters poses that question as well. 20 years ago, privacy laws for the internet were just being realized. There was a patchwork of different rules, and there were concerns if these rules had any solid means for enforcement.
Last week, the Eurpoean Union agreed to a reworking of these rules that gives the member nations a single rule book that includes up to 4% of a company’s global sales. That has the protential for some companies to start taking their privacy polices more seriously, but it also means that there will be an increased workload.
Another problem with this is the rules seem to leave enforcement of these rules up to the country where the complaint is being leveled. Though there is a “union” here, one country may interpret the laws differently from others. Vera Jourova, EU Justice Commissioner said “It would be bad if an Italian company were sanctioned more than a French one for the same thing,” If an argument did occur, the organization that would handle those claims has not been created yet.
Clearly, there are some details that still need to be gone over with these new laws in the EU, but they do not go in to effect until 2018. That should give them enough time to set up the mechanisms to resolve any conflicts. Even with these obstacles, many feel this law is a victory for the privacy of citizens. It also makes some wonder how the UK government will deal with the law change.
Europe has always been known as a trendsetter for western culture. Given that, there is hope that other countries will follow the example. In the light of recent activities by the US congress, it is hard to think they would suddenly reverse their policy. If the laws will not give citizens their privacy, at least there is evidence that some American companies will. Even though the reasons behind this shift may be because it effects the bottom line, they are doing something about privacy. That is a stark contrast to the US Congress forcing it down the throats of the citizens because they can. If you are interested in protecting your privacy, please feel free to check out our top 10 VPN providers list. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @VPNFan for the latest news and deals.