\u201cAny country that\u2019s not working toward these standards is left out in the cold\u201d \u2014 John Giles<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n For many countries, the choice is a no-brainer. Breaking commercial ties with the world\u2019s largest trading bloc is unthinkable, and failing to comply brings the risk of hefty fines \u2014 up to \u20ac20 million or 4 percent of global revenue, whichever is higher \u2014 for any company with European customers that mishandles data.<\/p>\n In response, legislators worldwide are scrambling to update their domestic legislation to bend to Europe\u2019s privacy rules. The data revamp will allow EUconsumers to pull their data from a company at any time, force businesses to alert customers within three days if their data is hacked and let people move information to rival services at a drop of a hat.<\/p>\n The \u201cBrussels effect\u201d is mostly manageable for advanced economies like Japan, which last year set up an independent agency to handle privacy complaints to conform with Europe\u2019s privacy standards during negotiations for a new Japan-EU trade deal.<\/p>\n But for emerging countries, the cost and administrative burden of applying the EU privacy standards can be daunting. In countries like South Africa, whose domestic legislation is primarily based on Europe\u2019s rules, the upcoming data protection changes risks being viewed as yet another diktat handed down by former colonial powers in a form of \u201cdata imperialism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny country that\u2019s not working toward these standards is left out in the cold,\u201d said John Giles, managing attorney at Michalsons, a law firm in South Africa. \u201cGDPR has long tentacles.\u201d<\/p>\n For years, Europe has served as the world\u2019s privacy police officer.<\/p>\n Since the mid-1990s, EU policymakers have rolled out a series of data protection rules that quickly became the de facto global standards for most countries except for a few holdouts like China, Russia and the United States.<\/p>\n But, as companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon vacuumed up more of people\u2019s private information, European lawmakers upped the ante, intent on setting a new bar for data protection worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to set the global standard,\u201d V\u011bra Jourov\u00e1, the European commissioner for justice, told POLITICO last year. \u201cPrivacy is a high priority for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Most multinational companies from Google to General Electric must comply with the new standards because of their existing activities in Europe. And smaller firms, even those currently with no operations in the EU, face a tough decision to either comply with the region\u2019s stance on privacy or risk potential sanctions if European customers eventually sign up to their services.<\/p>\n For governments, the choice is often one of necessity. That\u2019s particularly true as the EU now links potential free-trade agreements<\/a> with demands that other countries adopt the region\u2019s privacy standards through so-called \u201cadequacy decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel and New Zealand are among a handful of international partners that have struck deals with the EU certifying that their data protection rules are equal to those of Europe. Only under those conditions can data \u2014 and billions of euros of trade \u2014 flow freely between the parties.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing a number of countries falling in line with Europe\u201d \u2014 Eduardo Ustaran<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In Argentina, for instance, legal experts say that pending data protection reforms will put the Latin American country mostly on par with the EU\u2019s new rules, including guarantees linked to the independence of the country\u2019s privacy agency.<\/p>\n In Japan, which is still awaiting its own adequacy decision after signing a free-trade agreement with the EU in December, lawmakers also passed reforms last year that mirror many of Europe\u2019s existing standards, such as imposing restrictions on international data transfers to countries whose own privacy rules do not offer equivalent protections.<\/p>\n Other countries, from Colombia to South Korea to the tiny island nation of Bermuda, are similarly rebooting domestic legislation. At times, that involves adopting European rules almost word for word.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt it\u2019s having an extraterritorial impact,\u201d Eduardo Ustaran, co-director of the global privacy and cybersecurity practice at Hogan Lovells, a law firm that helped draft Bermuda\u2019s data protection reforms, said in reference to Europe\u2019s new privacy standards. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing a number of countries falling in line with Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n For other countries, working out how to comply can be more fraught.<\/p>\n In late 2016, for instance,Pansy Tlakula became chairperson of South Africa\u2019s Information Regulator, a newly created data protection agency to enforce local standards that both protect people\u2019s privacy rights and educate companies on what they can, and cannot, do with individuals\u2019 personal data.<\/p>\n U.S. policymakers argue that American data protection standards do more to guard against misuse than European standards | Leon Neal\/Getty Images<\/p>\n While the country\u2019s data protection rules are primarily based on those of Europe, Tlakula said that South Africa\u2019s own circumstances \u2014 including not overly burdening local small businesses without the budgets or know-how to follow complicated privacy rules \u2014 would take priority over following standards created for others with deeper pockets to tackle potential abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cWe regard Europe\u2019s directives as best practice,\u201d she said in an interview last year. \u201cBut whatever systems we put in place need to be affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n When countries resist, Europe is ready to turn the economic screws.<\/p>\n U.S. policymakers argue that American data protection standards, enshrined in the constitution and enforced aggressively by the Federal Trade Commission, do more to guard against misuse than European standards, which often can be more bark than bite.<\/p>\n But that didn\u2019t stop Europe\u2019s highest court from tearing up a 15-year-old data-transfer agreement in 2015 between the region and the United States after judges ruled that American authorities did not fully protect EU citizens\u2019 data when transferred across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n As Europe\u2019s new privacy standards kick in over the coming months, Europe is expected to use its economic muscle to cajole others to follow suit.<\/p>\n \u201cEurope wanted to be seen selling a global standard,\u201d said John Bowman, former lead negotiator for the U.K. government on Europe\u2019s new data protection rules, who is now a senior principal at Promontory, a regulatory compliance firm in London. \u201cThat\u2019s crystallized through its adequacy decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of regulatory influence, Europe is definitely a superpower\u201d \u2014 Christopher<\/em> Kuner<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In Canada, whose own adequacy decision will be reviewed by 2022,officials remain wary of overhauling their domestic rules to mimic Europe \u2014 although politicians held a series of parliamentary hearings last year to discuss a potential revamp in case the country\u2019s privacy deal with the EU would be put at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is taking a wait-and-see approach,\u201d said Chantal Bernier, a former Canadian privacy commissioner who now works in the privacy and cybersecurity practice at Dentons, a law firm, in Ottawa. \u201cThere\u2019s a possibility of Canada losing adequacy\u201d as Europe\u2019s rules come into effect.<\/p>\n Should that happen, few would be surprised if Canada quickly rewrote its laws to conform with what the EU wants.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of Europe\u2019s exporting its soft power,\u201d said Kuner, the co-chair of the Brussels Privacy Hub. \u201cIn terms of regulatory influence, Europe is definitely a superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n This article has been updated to correct the name of the managing attorney at Michalsons, John Giles.<\/em><\/p>\n Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n [contf] [contfnew] Europe wants to conquer the world all over again.<\/p>\n Only this..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"yoast_head":"\nFalling into line<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Economic pressure<\/h3>\n
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