Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 25 May 2018, more than 95,000 complaints about possible data breaches have been filed with European privacy regulators. The European Commission states this in a statement about the import of GDPR eight months ago.
Most of the complaints received by the European Commission relate to telemarketing, but also to advertising e-mails and video surveillance. At least that is what Reuters, a press agency, claims on the basis of a statement from the European Commission. Eight months ago, GDPR came into force and a large number of complaints have been made about possible infringements.
225 investigations
Despite the fact that there have been quite a few complaints, the European Commission is letting it be known that the number of investigations is still slightly behind schedule. In the eight months since the introduction of the GDPR, 225 investigations have been launched by research agencies into possible GDPR violations. Most research focuses on the aforementioned themes: telemarketing, advertising emails and video surveillance.
Most recently, the French privacy watchdog imposed a fine on Google for fifty million euros. This fine was handed out because the CNIL, as the French regulator is called, considers that Google is not transparent about the way in which it collects data about users and its explanation is too vague. Google is appealing the decision because it does not agree with it and believes that it does enough to be transparent to its customers.
More fines and investigations could follow as more Europeans become aware of their digital rights. EU Digital World Commissioner Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova and EU Digital Economy Commissioner Mariya Gabriel will announce this in a joint statement. What is at stake is not only the protection of our privacy, but also of our democracies and ensuring the stability of our data-driven economies.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.