Dozens Of Sites Go Dark Across Europe As New Privacy Law Takes Effect

European internet users were finding some popular news sites no longer available after the General Data Protection Regulation went into effect on Friday (May 25). The new rules state that companies must get express consent to collect personal information from users or face hefty fines, which could be as high as four percent of the companies' global profits. 

Just hours after the law took effect, the privacy group noyb.eu filed four complaints against Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The complaints state that the users "must agree to having their data collected, shared and used for targeted advertising, or delete their accounts," which is a violation of the new law. 

"The GDPR explicitly allows any data processing that is strictly necessary for the service - but using the data additionally for advertisement or to sell it on needs the users' free opt-in consent," said noyb.eu in a statement.

GDPR is very pragmatic on this point: whatever is really necessary for an app is legal without consent, the rest needs a free 'yes' or 'no' option."

The new regulations affect every business that collects data on citizens of the European Union, including banks, airlines and eCommerce sites. According to the Wall Street Journal, surveys found that between 60 and 85 percent of companies are not in compliance with the new law. 

Photo: Getty Images


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