News
Consumers have right to know when companies holding data are hacked; rules also harmonise data sharing between police forces.
The European Parliament this week passed new rules designed to protect consumers’ data and privacy.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), people will get access to information about how their data is stored and processed, and will have the right to be told as soon as possible when it has been hacked.
Businesses will benefit for having a single set of EU-wide rules governing data protection, which will save them an estimated €2.3 billion per year. Non-EU companies will have to comply with these rules if they want to provide services to EU consumers.
Companies that fall foul of the GDPR can be fined up to 4% of their global annual turnover.
The new rules were first proposed in January 2012, and after years of negotiation were agreed upon in December 2015.
"The new rules will ensure that the fundamental right to personal data protection is guaranteed for all," said a joint statement on Thursday from the European Commission’s first vice president Frans Timmermans, Andrus Ansip, vice president for the Digital Single Market (DSM), and Vera Jourová, commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality.
"The General Data Protection Regulation will help stimulate the Digital Single Market in the EU by fostering trust in online services by consumers and legal certainty for businesses based on clear and uniform rules," they said.
"The GDPR is a major step towards a real Digital Single Market," said telco lobby group ETNO. "It is now important to work on a proper implementation in view of new digital business models and technologies such as IoT, big data, 5G and connected cars."
In addition to the GDPR, the European Parliament also this week passed the Data Protection Directive, which is designed to allow police forces in EU member states to share information more easily by applying one set of rules for the whole bloc, instead of 28 separate sets of rules.
"Having more harmonised laws in all EU member states will make it easier for our police forces to work together," the EU Parliament said.
