The Global Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) 2018, which came into effect in European companies have sent shock waves across enterprises as it laid down stringent data privacy regulation that all organizations should mandatorily adhere to. This has enabled individuals to ask a company as to how his/her data is collected, and the purpose of its use. They can even ask the enterprise to erase the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) permanently from their systems.
It is apparently becoming a herculean task for the companies to understand everyone’s data, and if the buzz is to be believed, most of the companies in the European Union are yet to become GDPR compliant despite crossing the deadline two months ago.
According to a survey conducted by IBM, at least 75% public in the UK doesn’t purchase items in case they are convinced that those products are inefficient to protect the data. Also, the survey revealed that 80% of enterprises are cutting on the volumes of the data that they record.
This is exactly where the problem crops up. Data exchange is the foundation stone of any innovation including AI. Today, there are a number of Narrow AI apps that exchange the data in real-time. The popular GPS navigation app, Waze would be lifeless just in case users show reluctance to share the location. Same would be the case with YouTube, which wouldn’t be in any position to track your thoughts and present you the videos that you like if you don’t set your preferences.
Even in the banking sector, studies suggested that the critical information is kept on blockchain to offer cutting-edge services to the customers. The blockchain is a disruptive and innovative technology, which acts as a public ledger, recording the transaction details although sensitive data is encrypted. With EU’s GDPR 2018, blockchain technology is likely to face the wrath. Just in case an individual doesn’t like his information to be stored anywhere, blockchain would be out of the picture. As of now, the future of innovation seems to be unfairly sealed in the European Union with GDPR acting as the final nail in its coffin. One must keep his fingers crossed to see if there could be any relaxation in the new regulations. Do enterprises bring to table the other side of the coin? Can governments understand that such regulations are draconian and draw curtains on innovation? So many million-dollar questions that remain rhetoric!