With the first anniversary of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaching in just a few days, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Julie Brill says GDPR has been an important catalyst for progress in privacy protection around the world. Since GDPR began, she tweets: "Over 18 million people have used the Microsoft privacy dashboard to control their data… including 6.7 million users from the US — the most of any country. Does this show an appetite among Americans for updated privacy laws? Yes!" In an accompanying post on Monday she notes:
"A lot has happened on the global privacy front since GDPR went into force. Overall, companies that collect and process personal information for people living in the EU have adapted, putting new systems and processes in place to ensure that individuals understand what data is collected about them and can correct it if it is inaccurate and delete it or move it somewhere else if they choose.
This has improved how companies handle their customers’ personal data. And it has inspired a global movement that has seen countries around the world adopt new privacy laws that are modeled on GDPR. Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Thailand are among the nations that have passed new laws, proposed new legislation, or are considering changes to existing laws that will bring their privacy regulations into closer alignment with GDPR.
... Now it is time for Congress to take inspiration from the rest of the world and enact federal legislation that extends the privacy protections in GDPR to citizens in the United States."