New EU General Data Protection Regulation: What does this mean for me? Easily explained

Everyone is talking about the new EU General Data Protection Regulation at the moment - and rightly so: with the new regulation, you have extensive rights against companies that store and process your data. You can find out exactly what is behind this article.

New EU General Data Protection Regulation - you need to know that

• Laws on data protection were already in place in many places. However, the EU has endeavored to find a uniform solution and has therefore adopted the new General Data Protection Regulation. This overrides and replaces the national regulations.
• The rules that have been in force so far differ only slightly from the new EU regulation, but the extent of the penalty changes. While previously only small amounts were disregarded, companies now pay up to 20 million euros or 4% of annual sales. This high sentence is likely to be a deterrent to companies.
• There are no exceptions to this rule: anyone who wants to offer their services in EU territory must adhere to them. This also applies to small businesses and companies based in the United States, for example.

What does the General Data Protection Regulation bring me?

• The new General Data Protection Regulation should bring one thing above all: more transparency. This is to be achieved by companies having to provide you with clearly understandable form how personal data are processed and used.
• To save personal data, it is also essential to ask the person concerned for permission beforehand. In practice, this means that if a company wants to save your personal data, you must have actively consented to it - so you have to tick the box yourself or click "Agree". A check mark that has already been set does not count as consent because you have not allowed it yourself.
• Companies that have their data stored or processed by other companies must also ensure that your data is treated in accordance with the EU regulation. This means, for example, that it is not possible for data to be used illegally in companies outside the EU.
• There are already laws against unauthorized advertising or other undesirable contacts. These have now also been sold out, so it is mandatory for newsletters to specify an option to unsubscribe. If you have unsubscribed, you may no longer receive any further newsletters.
• Nothing lasts forever, and that should also be the case with data on the Internet. The EU has therefore decided to include the right to erasure in the General Data Protection Regulation. Your data may now only be stored until the purpose for which the data was collected no longer exists or until you have the data removed. You also have the right to have incorrect data corrected within one month.
• The right to information is also important: any company that stores data about you must give it to you on request. Of course, companies like Facebook are also subject to this regulation and you can download a copy of your data from the platform at any time.

In the next article, you will learn 10 tips for protecting your privacy on the Internet.