US firms cut off European users as GDPR kicks in

LONDON: SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS, ONLINE SERVICES BLOCK NET CONNECTIONS

FROM EU TO AVOID COMPLYING WITH NEW PRIVACY NORMS

For some of America’s biggest newspapers and online services, it’s easier to block half a billion people from accessing your product than comply with Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation.

The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The New York Daily News are just some telling visitors that, “Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries.”

With about 500 million people living in the European Union, that’s a hard ban on one-and-ahalf times the population of the US.

Blanket blocking EU internet connections—which will include any US citizens visiting Europe— isn’t limited to newspapers. Popular read-it-later service Instapaper says on its website that it’s “temporarily unavailable for residents in Europe as we continue to make changes in light of the General Data Protection Regulaits tion.” A&E Television Networks has narrowed its EU blockade to limit the damage to its audience. Websites for its History and Lifetime channels greet the European visitors with a message that “content is not available in your area,” whereas the website for youth-focused Viceland remains accessible.

“Denying service to EU citizens does not absolve them of their responsibilities,” says Julian Saunders, chief executive officer of Port, a UK startup selling software that helps clients control who gets access to data and creates audit trails to monitor privacy. “They still hold data on EU citizens and therefore they are required to comply and respond to subject access requests like everyone else.”

The newspapers and A&E didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Privacy has moved from a niche topic to one of the biggest headaches for top bosses such as Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg, who this week was grilled by EU lawmakers about how the data of some 87 million users and their friends may have been shared with a consulting firm with links to Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign.