What is GDPR and why are four Internet giants already in the risk of being sanctioned by it

Normally during the night I keep my phone on airplane mode because I do not want any notice or message to disturb my sleep. I do this because I know for sure that it will happen if I leave it "open". Yesterday morning, when I switched to "online", I was surprised to have been flooded with emails from different companies and sites in Europe where they are registered with personal data informing me about the new data protection law GDPR.

I even received one from twitter that is not based in Europe, but I am an European citizen and its user, and they felt it advisable to let me know about my "new rights". In reality, it was not necessary for these companies to send these emails or forced by the EU, but they probably did it to consolidate or improve their image.

As far as I understand, GDPR affects me directly, in a good way, because it improves my privacy on the Internet and those who process my data "more directly" because if they violate this law they are fined up to 20 million euros or 4% of the company's turnover. Practically Facebook will have to think 10 times before selling personal data to companies like Cambridge Analytica, as of yesterday.

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Personal data that is supposed to be protected by companies who store it for their users in the context of the GDPR law means your name, surname, personal number, address, medical situation, religious and sexual orientation, physical aspects and features, pictures, phone numbers, etc. Almost any personal information that anyone can imagine is included in that law, and those who will play with these personal data from now on will pay dearly. You have also the right to ask for this data collected and delete it if you want.

It seems, however, that Facebook, Google, Instagram and Whatsapp have already violated this law, according to a report drawn up by Max Schrems, Privacy Policy Manager of noyb.eu.

Four citizens of the European Union from France, Germany, Austria and Belgium filed complaints on the above-mentioned site about the violation of GDPR by the four giants: Facebook, Google, Instagram and Whatsapp. The reason for their complaints is that users are obliged by such companies to accept that their personal data will be used for commercial purposes in order to use their services, otherwise they will have to delete their accounts. According to the group of activists who took over these complaints, the aforementioned companies will have to change these policies if they do not want to be sanctioned.

"GDPR allows processing of data strictly required for the service, but using this information for advertising and selling requires an unforgettable user agreement. GDPR is very pragmatic about this: what is strictly necessary for an application can be taken without consent, but the rest of the things need a clear and unforced option of yes or no. "
noyb.eu

References: RO1 and RO2