Whatever happened to GDPR? In a previous life this was all the rage. Everyone was worried about it, even scared of it, and nearly everyone was certain it was Very Important.
Now that we are all going to be told to sign up to health apps tracking our every movement, whether we get targeted with a few ads in return for getting content for free seems a moot point.
It seems to me that two things have occurred lately on the GDPR front. 1) Consumers, if they ever cared, have stopped. 2) Advertisers and others have just got better at complying with the letter of the law.
An article in CPO Magazine first flagged by ad blogger Bob Hoffman, says the rules have been subverted by clever use of cookie consent tools.
Websites are able to “navigate around the GDPR – or at least evade its penalties”, says the magazine.
A recent piece in the New York Times reported that “Europe’s privacy law hasn’t shown its teeth, frustrating advocates”.
So far, Google has been the only tech giant penalised under GDPR rules – a fine of $50 million, which is about what Google staff spend on bicycle clips.
Perhaps it would be reckless to assume we can ignore GDPR. But the time and effort it took from small firms does not look worth it from here.
