Unification of personal data protection in the European Union: Challenges and implications

Abstract

The European Union faces the fourth industrial revolution and the digital single market with the unification of the legal status for personal data protection sought by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679. This legal unification is more theoretical than real, since formal aspects of the regulation and the content materials of the fundamental right to data protection make this process difficult. The entry into force of the GDPR in May 2018 provides the first legal reference framework for the implementation in companies of a true culture of privacy, and the protection of personal data and normative compliance in the EU.