The EU has grandstanded on their policy choices for privacy and net neutrality, saying that they protect consumers and innovation. However there is little empirical evidence to back these assertions. Europe has failed to produce startups to compete with those from the US and China, as was promised by policymakers. The new General Data Protection Regulation has created more confusion than clarity. Consumers are forced to process privacy policies that take up the length of a football field in order to access a single web page. Many US websites and news outlets have decided not to serve the EU because compliance is too costly. Moreover the 62 existing EU data protection authorities have been charged with dozens of new responsibilities and requirements without any financial appropriation for the new costs or an expectation of benefits. This offers a valuable lesson for US policymakers to ensure they don't make the same mistakes.
Click here to read Roslyn's op-ed on this subject in Forbes.