The time has come!
Who would have thought that this topic of data protection, which has also been taken seriously up to now, but then nevertheless treated stepmotherly, would develop such media clout. There is a lot of discussion and writing. Especially about what situations are now covered by the data protection law and the proportionality of the interpretation to the actual action. At the end of the article we have summarised a couple of sources that address issues that are currently at the centre of the discussion. I don’t think the flood of email last week has passed anyone by. Amusingly, about every company to which you have or have not subscribed to a newsletter or service is emailing you about updating their privacy policy or asking you to reconfirm your subscription. It has never been so easy as this week to rid oneself of all superfluous newsletters without any action on one’s part. And this by means of a wave of spam that is unparalleled. THANK YOU EUROPE! But the question that arises is whether all these companies have been sending out their newsletters legitimately so far. Well, now at the latest, there will be no more dead ends in the newsletter distribution lists, which one never really wanted to delete, even though their origin and the corresponding consent could no longer be proven in some cases. Well, it remains to be seen what will happen in the next few days and whether the big wave of warning letters will come. Rumour has it that about three quarters of the companies, especially the smaller ones, are not yet compliant. In any case, it is clear that the issue has been taken seriously. This could be interpreted as a success, but it will have to be jolted into shape first. In the end, everyone is probably pleased that after the whole Cambridge Analytica disaster, the big data giants in particular have realised that the handling of personal data in Europe requires greater attention than was previously the case.
Here is our short summary of the voices in the media:
Welt.de
Is the business card becoming a data protection trap?
To be on the safe side, Bitkom recommends writing to the business card holders and informing them about the further processing of their data and thus also allowing them to object. However, this is something that many companies will certainly not do, as there is a risk of making themselves look ridiculous to their entire circle of contacts (editor’s note).
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What’s App as an expensive risk for craftsmen and other entrepreneurs
What’s App has become a valued tool for many businesses, especially for making arrangements with customers. The problem here is mainly the handing over of the address book to Whats App. This is a violation unless all those concerned have agreed to it. Dealing with pictures can also be problematic. The solution is to obtain consent for this type of communication when signing the contract in order to be compliant.
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Süddeutsche.de
Some US news sites have chosen to block visitors from Europe instead of implementing the GDPR.
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Datenschutz-notizen.de
Making appointments by phone also has its pitfalls.
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Spiegel.de
What’s App groups are now unfortunately illegal
Faz.de
Software is switched off for Europe, it is becoming difficult for smart home services, congratulations are no longer published in the newspaper, association boards are resigning. Websites are being shut down for now out of fear, social media accounts are being closed and MPs need data protection officers.
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So there really are some uncertainties and this list will probably continue to grow. We will see and stay tuned.