Turns Out Our Evil Tech Overlords May Be No Match for Europe’s New Privacy Laws ⇥ theoutline.com

Paris Martineau, the Outline:

Though it’s only been a few weeks since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) officially went into effect, its impact is already noticeable. Sites have gone dark and pared down their tracking-laden homepages, while users have had to struggle to stay afloat under the deluge of privacy policy update emails. But, strangely enough, the most interesting side effect of GDPR can be found outside of its regulatory borders. In a rather shocking turn of events, U.S. lawmakers, policy wonks, and academics alike appear to actually be inspired by the GDPR’s bold design and efficacy. New measures in the works would deny businesses the ability to share and sell people’s data willy nilly, more clearly identify where and to whom their personal information has been disclosed, and even require them to alert people if their data has been stolen within 72 hours. […]

I’m glad to see even ostensibly regulation-averse American policy makers confront online privacy abuses, but I’m concerned that they won’t get it right. Lucy surely isn’t going to let Charlie kick the football this time, right?

Getting it right is highly subjective, of course. GDPR does a good job of making everyone aware of all of the rats and cockroaches, but it doesn’t establish any requirements for their limitations or extermination. Maciej Cegłowski’s proposals are, I think, a terrific blueprint for successful privacy regulations.