(16 December 2015) – EU negotiators wrapped up talks on a major data protection reform last night that will tighten privacy laws and determine how companies handle consumers’ personal data.
The data protection regulation was hit with thousands of amendments and branded one of the top lobbied draft bills during its four-year stint in the legislative pipeline.
Under the new regulation, users can request companies to apply the right to be forgotten and delete personal data if its no longer relevant.
Compared to the 1995 directive, more kinds of personal information, including genetic data about health, are grouped as ‘sensitive’ and demand stricter privacy handling.
Companies can be hit with fines of up to four percent of their global turnover if they don’t comply with the rules. Negotiators previously clashed over the threshold for sanctions—the Parliament wanted a maximum threshold of five percent of global turnover, while the Commission and member states pushed for a two percent ceiling. (EurActiv)