2 years of the General Data Protection Regulation: Pirates demand more consistent enforcement

Brussels, 25 May 2020 – On the second anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect, MEP Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party) draws a positive conclusion overall, but demands stricter enforcement of compliance.

MEP Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party): “The GDPR has proven to be a global gold standard in protecting our privacy. However, this protection should not only exist on paper, but must also be enforced. We pirates have been calling for the strengthening of data protection officers for many years, especially in Germany. Indeed, the German Federal Data Protection Commissioner still lacks enforcement powers vis-à-vis telecommunications providers, which is why I have issued a complaint with the EU Commission. The German Government and the Commission are neglecting our privacy rights by failing to do so.”

Breyer continues: “There is also an urgent need to strengthen the ePrivacy Regulation as it complements the GDPR, e.g. in the areas of smartphone use and online services, and was originally foreseen to come into force together with the GDPR. The delaying tactics of governments and the tug-of-war with industry behind the scenes are irresponsible here, because the protection of people’s privacy must be the focus of attention in the digital age – rather than the advertising interests of industry. Companies should once again focus on providing the benefits of their products to customers, not spying on them. The ‘transparent customer’ and the so-called surveillance capitalism on the Internet should be abolished as a historical aberration!

The GDPR aims to standardise the rules for the processing of personal data by public and private data processors throughout the EU. On the one hand, it is intended to ensure the protection of personal data within the EU, while at the same time guaranteeing the free movement of data within the European internal market. The new rules on data protection have ensured that users have more rights.

The Pirates in the European Parliament still consider the GDPR to be one of the most important regulations of recent years. But even two years after its coming into effect, the GDPR is still in the implementation process. It is important that its enforcement is vigorously pursued throughout the EU. In this context, it is particularly important to strengthen the data protection authorities responsible for supervision, as demonstrated by a study published today by the Access Now interest group [1]. The Hungarian government has recently even suspended fundamental data protection rights on the pretext of the pandemic.

Photo by mohamed_hassan (pixabay)