Data Protection Day: 41 Years of "Compliance on Paper"?!

Today's Data Protection Day marks the signing of the first pan-European data protection framework (Convention 108) in 1981. Fast-forward 41 years later, the GDPR has become the main pillar of European data protection. Adopted in 2016 with high hopes, the GDPR is now on the verge of succumbing to a death similar to many data protection rules before. They existed on paper, but were hardly enforced in reality. The theory of European enforcement. Under the GDPR everyone in Europe has the right to file a complaint with their Data Protection Authority (DPA), who should in turn enforce citizens' fundamental right to privacy. The “one-stop-shop” cooperation-mechanism for cross-country cases should ensure that customers see their rights enforced just as effectively when their data is processed by a company in another Member State. The GDPR’s enforcement vacuum. Many citizens who have tried to exercise their rights under the GDPR are disappointed. Some DPAs do not process complaints at all. Proc