In last year’s birthday wish, I referred to Terry Pratchett’s People’s Revolution of the Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May, and Douglas Adams’s Towel Day. The 25th May is also the day on which, in 1977, the first Star Wars movie (later re-titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (IMDB)) was released. So, happy birthday GDPR, and may the Force be with you!
It’s remarkable to reflect on how much has changed in those three years. It will be interesting to see what final shape the UK adequacy decision takes and whether it is challenged. I think its potential impact on defamation has yet to be fully explored, in terms of some of the alternatives it gives would-be claimants.
There have been some light moments also, arising from over-zealous compliance, such as the GPO removing waste bins due to concerns that the waste was not GDPR-compliant! https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/office-of-data-protection-commissioner-says-gpo-can-keep-their-bins-as-public-litter-is-not-in-breach-of-gdpr-rules-38073828.html
I think it’s sad that Giovanni Buttarelli, the architect in many ways of the GDPR, did not live to see its third birthday due to his premature death. https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2019/giovanni-buttarelli-memoriam