GDPR Fallout - Will It Affect The Way We Research?

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So as an American living in Ireland for over 20 years, it's taken a bit of time to close the gap between the us and them mentality. The advances of technology and the Internet have made it seem like I'm right next store more of the time with little or no barrier to information.

Enter GDPR

Even though GDPR was approved a few years ago, it was only in the last few months that people had to sit up and take notice by complying to all the new rules and regulations around the storage of data for residents of the EU. Those new laws came into effect last Friday, the 25th of May, in case you've been living under a rock.

The Sky Is Falling!

Actually, the sky isn't falling. I haven't gotten around to making my sites compliant yet but I'm not going to sweat it. Anyone who's on my list who doesn't want to be can simply click the "unsubscribe" button. Also, my email list is managed by Mailchimp who are in full compliance. I'll get around to my privacy policy soon. I also don't believe that the GDPR police are going to be trawling little sites like mine to see if I'm complying or not. They've got bigger fish to fry, I imagine. They want the big fish like big corporations that are not in compliance!

GDPR Fallout

For anyone who lives on this side of the pond who may frequent U.S. sites, you may have noticed that you have to click on a lot of buttons around cookies and data storage, etc. before you actually get access to the site information you are looking for. I know I have.

So now comes the "us and them" part. There are some U.S. news sites that I like to check a few times a week. Today, I went to one site that greeted me with this:




I really thought that companies would have been in compliance by now. They've had over two years to get it together! So I'm feeling like I'm being censored! Especially when I checked another site and got this:

Do you know that that is up above? REDACTED. REDACTED!!??? Yes. The site has made it clear that there's actually information there but I can't read it! Gee, thanks! I need to mention that these sites I'm trying to read are not personal blogs. They are actual news sites from small local newspapers.

Testing, testing, 1,2,3...

I'm trying out a little test at the moment. So far this isn't working. Here's what I've tried:

  • Cleared all cache and cookies forever
  • Went into Location Privacty settings (Windows 10) and reset it to Off
  • Cleared Location History



So far, this hasn't had an impact on whether I can see the online newspapers I'm trying to access. Only time will tell how much this will affect me and the rest of us.

Research Compromised

So now I'm wondering how this will affect the way we research. Has this affected you already? Have you found a way around this? Will this make our jobs harder for us here in the EU?

Would love to hear your thoughts and if you've found a way around this.

Alanna

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Recent Comments

14

I have had problems with my browser it know take me forever to find what I am looking for. They take me to a million places but not to what I need. a stupid window comes up with an arrow that leads to know where.
Linda

Alana they are just being careful, and do not want to be used as scapegoat. I believe everything will soon normalise naturally. Who then will bell the cat, I wonder?

The internet is all about anti-censorship. We bemoan the fact that China hides behind a firewall and prevents its citizens from accessing sites outside of China. Now with GDPR, EU citizens are being censored because (primarily) US companies either haven't got their act together or aren't willing put put the money and resources into becoming compliant with the regulation.

Yesterday I tried to register for a webinar run by a Swiss company. As an EU citizen (I'm in Ireland), I was denied access due to GDPR. Yes, Switzerland is in Europe but it's not part of the EU.

The United Kingdom is currently still part of the EU but it will (Br)exit in less than a year. So does that mean that UK citizens will have access to currently blocked US sites but no access to the EU sites they can currently visit?

Some US companies have moved their headquarters from Europe back to the USA to circumvent GDPR. I guess they'll lose out on tax breaks as a result. And Europe will lose jobs as result too.

Seems like a helluva mess.

I'm not against GDPR. In fact I think the regulation is very good and necessary given how certain companies (and individuals) have misused people's personal data.

It needs to be a global policy though. After all, the internet is global and not generally subject to the whims of politicians in any one country.

But given how lousy a job politicians have done on coordinating actions to be done to combat climate change, I don't see a quick, easy and coordinated fix for the problems GDPR has raised.

Hopefully, I'm just being overly pessimistic and things will get sorted out in the next year.

Agreed. It's a bit of a mess alright. Interesting points you raise about U.S. companies leaving the EU and Brexit. We here in the EU at least don't have to suffer with robocalls--at least not yet. I've never received one except from the U.S.! Thanks for your comments! Alanna

I don't think you are persimistic, you are realistic

I like your perspective on this. I am trying to get all my sites up to date with all of it just in case. I live in the U.S. I do think that it is better to be safe than sorry. Thanks for the info.

Personally, I'm just going to update my privacy policy. I'm not worried about anyone coming after my little sites! Thanks for dropping in! Alanna

Hi Alanna,

I really enjoyed your article and I agree that our tiny sites are unlikely to attract the ire of the enforcement teams just yet.

I am very surprised at the response of many US-based websites. I'm sure many of them aren't quite sure what to do so have put these measures in place until they figure it out (or take legal advice) but others seem quite smug at blocking European visitors for reasons that I can't quite fathom.

Some even talk as if we, the general populace, have any kind of control over what goes on in Brussels!

Strange times, indeed. :)

It's a shame that some news sites aren't compliant yet. It's one more layer of red tape! Thanks for dropping in! Alanna

Your IP address includes your geolocation so perhaps you could consider getting a VPN service. The one I use costs about $40 USD a year. And, yes, I am an affiliate, so please ask me for more details.

Thanks, Marion! I may take you up on that! That's the cheapest price I've heard of. I found a VPN site that will charge me $80 USD per year. Not sure I'm ready to take the plunge yet. I'm hoping it won't come to that bu it may be necessary. Thanks! Alanna

If you'd like to check it out just use my domain name /vpn (it's a pretty link)

It's a pity they didn't take immidiate action 2 years ago, now, they are too late, and block Europe
Great article Alanna

Thank you, Loes! Yes. It's not like they didn't have time to implement a plan! Alanna

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