It's been a year since the European UnionÍs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented on May 25, 2018.

Touted as one of the strictest privacy laws to date, has the GDPR succeeded in meeting its agenda? Are businesses meeting the compliance requirements for data collection and processing? How strict have Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) been with enforcing the regulation? What impact has the GDPR had on individuals and businesses alike?

Let's take a look at how the GDPR has fared in the past year.

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  • Pay the price

    On January 21, 2019, Google was awarded the highest GDPR fine to date: ó50 million (USD 56.8 million). Country: France

  • The watchful eye

    An entrepreneur was fined ó5,280 (nearly USD 6,000) for unlawful video surveillance of a public sidewalk. Country: Austria

  • Rewarded good deeds

    A social media provider was fined for failing to secure usersÍ personal data, but the fine was reduced to ó20,000 because the company proactively informed the authorities in time. Country: Germany

Look back

COMPLAINTS

  • - 144,000+ GDPR complaints have been filed to date.
  • - 1 GDPR complaint filed every 4 minutes.
  • - Ireland had roughly 57 complaints per 100,000 people, while in Poland, for every 100,000 people, 15 complaints were filed.
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The number of complaints submitted to DPAs:

  • Austria:1,968
  • Cyprus:345
  • Germany:14,878
  • Greece:670
  • Hungary:2,854
  • Ireland:2,864
  • Italy:6,491
  • Poland:5,651
  • Romania:5,544
  • Sweden:2,427
  • United Kingdom:33,089

Data breach notifications

  • - 89,000+ data breaches reported to date.
  • - One data breach was reported every 6 minutes.
  • - In Germany, an average of 45 data breaches were reported every day.
  • - In the Netherlands, for every 100,000 people, an average of 89.8 data breaches were reported.
  • - The lowest number of breaches reported was in Liechtenstein with 15 reported breaches.
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The number of data breach notifications submitted to DPAs:

  • Austria:735
  • Cyprus:41
  • Germany:3,326
  • Greece:105
  • Hungary:2,274
  • Ireland:3,542
  • Italy:838
  • Poland:3,198
  • Romania:414
  • Sweden:3,327
  • United Kingdom:11,600

GAUGING THE IMPACT OF GDPR

RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN

The GDPR gave people the right to evade the constant bombardment of marketing and promotional emails from companies that claimed they did it with ñlegitimate interestî for their customers. Let's find out from the EU citizens how the GDPR has fared in this regard.

  •  55.56%
  • Bombarded
  •  40.74%
  • Not Bombarded
  •  3.70%
  • Not Sure

Over 56% of the respondents claim that they are still being bombarded with marketing emails.

  •  77.78%
  • Agree
  •  7.41%
  • Disagree
  •  14.81%
  • Not Sure

78% of the respondents agreed that the promotional emails now contain the option of opting out.

  •  33.3%
  • Still Receive
  •  51.85%
  • Do Not Receive
  •  14.81%
  • Not Sure

After opting out, over 50% of the respondents agree that they have stopped receiving promotional emails.

DATA PRIVACY AND SAFETY

The GDPR gave people complete control over their data and even the right to be forgotten. LetÍs see if the EU citizens feel their private data is now safe and secure.

Only 3.70% of the respondents are confident that companies will not misuse their data for business advantages.

  •  Confident 3.70%
  • Not Confident62.96%
  • Not Sure33.33%

Over 50% of the respondents do not trust that the companies are encrypting their data to keep it secure.

  • Trust29.63%
  • Don't Trust51.85%
  • Not Sure18.52%

Only 30% of the respondents feel comfortable sharing their personal data with companies while downloading and using applications.

  • Comfortable29.63%
  • Not Comfortable44.44%
  • Not Sure25.93%

Approximately 63% of the respondents have noticed companies trying to win their trust with transparent privacy notices.

  • Agree62.96%
  • Disagree18.52%
  • Not Sure18.52%

77% of the respondents agreed that companies are taking their consent before sending any marketing emails.

  • Agree76.92%
  • Disagree7.96%
  • Not Sure15.38%

RIGHT TO ACCESS DATA

The GDPR has given people the right to access their personal data and to know the details about how this data is being processed. Are the EU citizens exercising this right?

33% of the respondents agree that they have better control over their private data.

  • 33% Agree
  • 37.04% Disagree
  • 29.63% Not sure

Only 28% of the respondents have asked companies about the details of their saved personal data.

  • 28% Asked
  • 72% Not Asked

Over 70% of the respondents agree to now reading agreements before signing up to understand how companies plan to use their data.

  • 70.37% Agree
  • 22.22% Disagree
  • 7.41% Not sure

Sources : ManageEngine Survey | GDPR Today | EDPB Report

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