NetGuide: Your Privacy Resource Guide.

Know Your Rights – in Europe

• Learn about the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) here!

​​The European General Data Protection Regulation (also known as GDPR) is the European Union’s regulation which states the principles and requirements for data protection and privacy in the EU. It came into force in 2018, so it’s a pretty recent thing.

All businesses and organisations in and outside the EU dealing with data generated by citizens of the member-states must follow the GDPR’s guidelines for the collection, processing, and storage of personal data.

For example, you know those annoying windows that pop-up asking for your consent to the implementation of cookies every time you open a website? Well, that is a requirement of the GDPR.

There is a lot of debate around the effectiveness of the GDPR in protecting citizen’s privacy. Surely, the legislation will still go through loads of changes over the years both because of how new it is and because practises in the digital world are always changing.

Do you want to join the debate on how the EU takes care of your privacy? Or perhaps you just want to make sure your rights to data protection are being respected? Then check out the link above!

• More information about data protection and online privacy provided by the European Union.

This is an EU page that explains what citizens’ rights to data protection are under the GDPR in a very digestible manner.

If you are just trying to get a quick overview of what the legislation is all about (and if you’re not a lawyer or technical expert) then this page is ideal for you! It explains the main principles of the GDPR in simple words and with “sample stories” that illustrate real life situations where the regulation applies.

• In the Netherlands: Reporting data privacy breaches to the Personal Data Authority (Authority for Personal Data).

Every EU country has a national data protection authority to which citizens can complain in case they believe their data privacy rights have been violated.

In the Netherlands, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens will investigate every complaint filed within 3 months. If the breach is confirmed, you may be entitled to compensation depending on the context of the violation.

Author: Ana Luiza Loio

Image: Matthew Henry via Unsplash