Understanding data privacy efforts and their efficacy

As discussed in the previous section, organizations, agencies, and third-party vendors are gathering and integrating data emitted from our daily activities. And they are using this treasure trove of data about us to influence our decisions, actions, and beliefs. Seems like the odds are stacked against the average citizen. However, government agencies around the world are trying to level the playing field and help to protect our data privacy.

Data protection and privacy laws

Governments worldwide are scrambling to avoid an avalanche of personal data privacy issues. Therefore, there are several regulatory efforts underway to try to protect your privacy, including:

• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was introduced in 2018 by the European Union (EU) on data protection and privacy in the EU and the European Economic Area. The GDPR is essential to EU privacy law and human rights law.
• The California...