A new EU-wide law on internet privacy bolstering data protection rights has been unveiled by the European Commission. In an update of an original 1995 law, online companies will face fines starting at €250,000 for non-compliance with new rules on issues ranging from explicit consent on the use of information to notifications of security breaches. Users will also have to be given access to their own data, and will receive a new right ‘to be forgotten’ – that is, to have their information deleted from company servers at their request. Resistance from the internet industry has already begun, with suggestions that the laws would hit online advertising revenue and indeed hinder economic growth in Europe.
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