After the first week, the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe has done far more damage than Brussels ever anticipated. This regulation, which was intended to really prevent political marketing against the government, is actually destroying the German Internet. Operators have chosen to simply shut down their websites for fear of lawsuits. Many online services have chosen to delete their users’ accounts. In case of violations of the regulation, companies face fines of four percent of their turnover.
At the same time, law firms are licking their lips and see a whole new fortune to be made while rubbing their hands. Lawyers have sprung into action and have set up consumer protection associations armed with this new regulation which explicitly states that consumers are entitled to take action for damages. Activists have targeted companies on a large scale all looking to make huge profits.
The US Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger once said: “We may well be on our way to a society overrun by hordes of lawyers, hungry as locusts, and brigades of judges in numbers never before contemplated.” These words seem to be very much on point in Europe. One day, we can only hope that Brussels will admit a serious mistake and just ask – What have we done? But since they refuse to admit error in anything else from creating a federalized Europe without consolidating debts or the refugee issue that is tearing Europe apart, it looks like GDPR is just another nail in the coffin of the EU.
