In a briefing note, risk management firm Russell Group said international data regulation could “blow the lid off global digitally connected trade”. The company compared GDPR to previous efforts by less liberal polities, including Russia and China, to enforce national laws on international companies. “Russia, for example, enforces data localisation laws so that citizens’ datasets have to remain in the country,” the group wrote. These businesses might also end up ditching Europe, for the same reason.”Lukasz Olejnik, a privacy expert, dismissed concerns, pointing out that far more common than blocking EU users was companies such as Microsoft offering GDPR protections worldwide. “Withdrawing operations from Europe or blocking European users is not a serious threat in the long run,” he said.

Source: The Guardian May 25, 2018 10:43 UTC