HBR: GDPR and the End of the Internet’s Grand Bargain

In May the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation goes into effect, two years after passage by the European Parliament. This radical new privacy law, which covers any business that processes information about EU residents, will dramatically affect the way data is collected, stored, and used, including for U.S. companies doing business abroad. Those changes may prove to be more profound than EU regulators have anticipated. Facebook’s woes, following continued reports of major data breaches at other leading companies, have amplified calls for GDPR-like legislation in the United States. GDPR and its progeny may lead to the end of what has long been the internet’s grand bargain: the exchange of free or subsidized content for personalized advertising.

Harvard Business Review