Edward Snowden: GDPR is a low-impact paper tiger

Edward Snowden thinks that the GDPR has had little effect in Europe so far. The NSA whistleblower said at a conference that the European privacy regulation is mainly ‘a paper tiger’ as long as internet companies are not imposed large fines.

Snowden spoke via video link at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon. There he said he was not yet impressed by the AVG, the major European privacy regulation that has been in force since May 25 last year. He thinks it is not the right solution to the problem of data collection. According to Snowden, the problem with the regulation is already in the name. “It’s called the General Data Protection Regulation, but that’s a relocation of the problem. The problem is not data protection, but data collection.” The whistleblower says that protecting data implies that collecting the data is lawful in the first place. “The GDPR says it’s fine to collect data, it’s not a threat, and it’s normal to spy on anyone, as long as that data doesn’t leak out and you can control it.”

Snowden goes on to say that policymakers have given a lot of attention to the regulation and that this is a good first step. He also thinks that the fines that may be handed out under the GDPR have so far been a sham. Under the privacy law, companies can be fined four percent of their annual turnover if they are negligent in protecting user data. A number of fines have already been handed out, but according to Snowden, they do not fulfill the promise. Until those fines are imposed on the internet giants every year, it is a paper tiger that gives us a false sense of security. spirit of it.”