GAFA does not seem to respect European regulation

The personal data protection rules of a series of internet giants such as Google, Facebook, Apple or Amazon seem not to fully meet the requirements of the new European regulations. This is the conclusion of a study by the European Consumer Platform (BEUC) and the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. The privacy regulations of fourteen popular digital companies that have been studied still have a "wide margin for improvement" to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in the European Union on May 25.

This reform requires the explicit agreement of the European citizen for the conservation and use of his personal data. All institutions, organizations and companies that use such data must apply for this agreement.

None of the companies studied would apply a privacy policy that fully complies with the requirements of the GDPR. The study points to breaches in the information provided to the Internet user, the lack of solicitation of agreement for the processing of personal data or language too vague and imprecise.

"This is very worrying", Believes Monique Goyens, BEUC Director General. It is calling for an investigation by the competent authorities and is preparing itself to forward the study to the recently established European Data Protection Board to oversee the application of the GDPR.

For their study, the BEUC and the EUI have used an automated search tool. Such an instrument of artificial intelligence is an important contribution to verifying texts that are often so long and complex that infringements would go unnoticed, according to Ms. Goyens.