After nearly 4 years of negotiations, yesterday evening the EU
reached agreement on the final provisions of its new data
protection laws. With it, a new era of data protection has been
ushered in that will have far reaching consequences for
organisations both inside and outside of the EU.
In January 2012, the European Commission put forward its
proposals for data protection reform, which included text for a new
General Data Protection Regulation. Following negotiations this
year with the European Parliament and the Council (the so-called
'trilogues' meetings), the three institutions reached final
agreement on the Regulation's provisions late last night.
Key issues are:
- 4% fines – serious breaches of the
Regulation's requirements could result in organisations facing
fines of up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover (i.e., gross
revenue).
