GDPR Becomes Reality, Consumer Data Becomes Global

It was a long time coming, but it’s here.

As the world knows by now, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect on May 25. The mechanics of what firms have to do when it comes to collecting, managing and processing data has been well-publicized.

Equally well-publicized has been the readiness — or lack of readiness — of firms to bring data under the control of the consumer. After all, it’s the individual who can ask to be deleted from databases, to leave as little a virtual trail as possible in this world of commerce rendered in bits and bytes — which is no small order for the companies asked to do this.

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