EU privacy law heralds new era in data protection

NEW European privacy regulations that went into effect yesterday will force companies to be more attentive to how they handle customer data, while bringing consumers both new ways to control their data and tougher enforcement of existing privacy rights. The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the bloc’s patchwork of rules dating back to 1995 and heralds an era where breaking privacy laws can fetch fines of up to 4 per cent of global revenue or 20 million euros, whichever is higher, as opposed to a few hundred thousand euros.