EU senses Facebook scandal shifts privacy tide in its favour
Zuckerberg said Facebook was committed to rolling out the controls and the affirmative consent required by the new EU rules
Sensing the Facebook scandal has shifted the transatlantic winds, the EU is asserting itself as a forward-looking regulator rather than a retrograde bulwark against Silicon Valley’s innovative might.
After years of mounting concern, the European Union will introduce tough new data protection rules next month, which Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg himself has welcomed in the face of the latest scandals.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25, gives web users much greater control over how their personal information is stored and used, with big fines for companies that break the rules.
“I was really desperate about thinking how to make the best possible campaign for GDPR so now this is well done, so thank you Mr Zuckerberg,” the EU’s justice and consumer affairs commissioner Vera Jourova told reporters in Brussels this week. “His declaration that they want to expand our European rules globally, it’s only good news, it sounds very nice to me.”
The GDPR is not the only EU action that has triggered accusations of protectionism against the new digital economy. It has also drawn fire over its massive antitrust fines against Google and Apple as well as plans to tax internet giants.
During questioning by US senators on Tuesday over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Zuckerberg said Facebook was “committed to rolling out the controls and the affirmative consent” required by the new EU rules “around the world”.