The EU has always been at the vanguard of data privacy protection, going back as far as the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. Lawmakers have been attempting to keep up with the way both old and new industries utilize technology to gather and monetize personal data, setting rules designed to curtail the risks of personal data exposure and uphold the right to privacy. For example, defying the EU General Data Protection Regulation could incur fines of up to 20m or 4% of total worldwide annual turnover.”]
Source: https://securityintelligence.com/posts/data-privacy-regulations-impacts-businesses/