EU's new data protection rules come into effect

With the new regulations in force, companies working in the EU – or any association or club – must now get express consent to collect personal information or face hefty fines, the BBC reported.

The new regulations give the users of tech companies the right to see what information about them are being collected and also have them deleted if they wish so. It also makes mandatory for companies to tell all affected users about any data breach, and inform the overseeing authority within 72 hours, the BBC report said.

The new EU law also establishes consumers' "right to know" who is processing their information and what it will be used for.

People will be able to block the processing of their data for commercial reasons and even have data deleted under the "right to be forgotten".

Parents will decide for children until they reach the age of consent, which member states will set anywhere between 13 and 16 years old.

To ensure that companies in the EU comply with the GDPR rules, EU member states must set up supervisory authorities which will work in a coordinated manner. Major technology companies have said that they are ready to comply with the GDPR rules.

Microsoft this week announced that it will extend the core rights guaranteed under the new regulations to all of its customers worldwide. "GDPR is an important step forward for privacy rights in Europe and around the world, and we've been enthusiastic supporters of GDPR since it was first proposed in 2012," Julie Brill, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.

Edited by Neo Sesinye
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