GDPR News - The Aftermath

Did GDPR Send Europe Internet Users Back to the Dark Ages?

Follow up from our write-up on GDPR, it seems like some companies cannot deal with the regulations and decide to block all Europe traffic from their sites. Dozens of US newspapers are currently blocked in Europe, such as LA Times and Instapaper have suspended operations for EU.

Screenshot of Los Angeles Times from Singapore 

Screenshot of Los Angeles Times from UK Proxy

Although this is not a cyber attack, the effect is similar to someone shutting out Internet from all EU users.  Internet usage has become nearly an essential item for daily life, some people depend on it to make a phone call! There are some smart people who develop new services such as GDPR Shield, a service that supposedly block Internet traffic coming out from EU. This is funny and pathetic depending on whether you are in Europe at this very moment. We predict companies selling VPN, VPS or proxy services will be laughing all the way to the bank.

The GDPR legislation was passed in April of 2016, and there are ample time for companies to get their act together. If companies deem Europe business not worth their while, it will only benefit companies that put in effort and resources to make it right. #GDPRmemes

Update [1 June 2018] - Could GDPR be used to the advantage of cyber-criminals?