Strategic Intelligence: Data Privacy

Strategic Intelligence: Data Privacy

Summary

The enforcement of data privacy regulations has intensified globally, with fines for non-compliance reaching unprecedented levels. In 2024, total fines under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) totaled EUR1.2 billion ($1.3 billion). While this was lower than the record EUR2.1 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2023, that peak was primarily driven by a single EUR1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) fine imposed on Meta

Key Highlights

• Generative AI’s widespread adoption across industries has increased the relevance of data privacy. In 2024, regulators globally proposed privacy-focused policies and legislation to manage the risks associated with emerging technologies. The EU's AI Act, a landmark regulatory framework, addresses privacy concerns by categorizing AI systems based on risk levels and imposing strict requirements for high-risk applications. Despite these efforts, rogue AI could make privacy legislation difficult to enforce.
• Greater scrutiny has driven organizations to reassess how they collect, store, and process personal data to ensure compliance with these developing standards. Investing in advanced encryption methods will be necessary for companies to protect sensitive information without compromising AI's capabilities.

• Regulators have been and will continue to crack down on some of the big online platforms, such as Amazon, Google, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Alibaba, and Tencent, in 12 key regulatory arenas, as shown below.
• Data privacy is one of the main target areas of regulators’ investigations, alongside antitrust, AI, and online harm.
• This report looks in detail at data privacy, including details of data privacy acts by country.
• It also includes analysis of the key trends impacting the data privacy theme and profiles of tech companies impacted by data privacy regulation.

• Data privacy has become the most well-established regulatory area within the digital economy, largely due to the influence of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a robust framework for enforcing data privacy standards and imposing fines. Since its implementation in 2018, the GDPR has triggered a global wave of data privacy regulations, a phenomenon often attributed to the so-called Brussels effect, wherein the EU’s regulatory standards influence other jurisdictions due to the EU’s market power and global reach, resulting in many countries mirroring aspects of the EU's approach. However, what has emerged is a patchwork of data protection and security laws shaped by differing national priorities.
• This report will help you make sense of this complex and disruptive theme and understand how to ensure your approach to data privacy is in line with current regulations.