Will GDPR block Blockchain?

Homepage

Get started

HOMESTRATEGY MEETING 2018GENDERGEO-ECONOMICSENVIRONMENTSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYHEALTHENTREPRENEURSHIP AND EMPLOYMENT

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation #wef

May 24

Will GDPR block Blockchain?

Once it’s on the blockchain, you can’t delete it, and that could be a problem. Image: REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Anne Toth, Head of Data Policy, World Economic Forum LLC

As someone who has worked in data policy and data protection for 20 years, I read privacy policies for a living. I take notice when I get the occasional email telling me that a website is updating their privacy policy or terms of service. Lately, that trickle has become a torrent in my inbox. The thing they all have in common is the effective date — May 25, 2018, the day the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect.

GDPR is a unified privacy regulation that largely harmonizes the various and disparate legal frameworks that cover the more than half a billion European data subjects, or as I prefer to call them, people. GDPR gives specifically articulated rights to people over their data so that the phrase, “you own the data about you” has meaning.

These rights are enshrined in European law but making them actionable has not been simple. Adding complexity to the task is the fact that technology has a habit of changing quickly. It’s well known that technology often leapfrogs ahead of existing regulatory frameworks, leaving legislators and regulators to play catch-up. Consider the example of blockchain.

Blockchain has existed as a concept since 2008 but it has only recently exploded into public consciousness through valuations of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Many technologists believe that blockchain will be more transformational than the internet itself.

https://medium.com/world-economic-forum/will-gdpr-block-blockchain-54f6b1b001fb