BRUSSELS: The European Union’s new data protection laws came into effect on Friday, with Brussels saying the changes will protect consumers from being like “people naked in an aquarium”.

The EU’s so-called General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been blamed for a flood of spam emails and messages in recent weeks as firms rush to request the explicit consent of users to contact them.

Even though the rules were officially adopted two years ago, with a grace period until now to adapt to them, companies have been slow to act.

The Information Comm­issioner’s Office said that its site had experienced “a few interruptions” as the deadline loomed, but said that “everything is working now”.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2018