In this book, the protection of personal data is compared for eight EU member states, namely France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. The comparison of the countries is focused on government policies for the protection of personal data, the applicable laws and regulations, implementation of those laws and regulations, and supervision and enforcement.

Although the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) harmonizes the protection of personal data across the EU as of May 2018, its open norms in combination with cultural differences between countries result in differences in the practical implementation, interpretation and enforcement of personal data protection.

With its focus on data protection law in practice, this book provides in-depth insights into how different countries deal with data protection issues. The knowledge and best practices from these countries provide highly relevant material for legal professionals, data protection officers, policymakers, data protection authorities and academics across Europe.



Specific to this book:

▪focuses on law in action, rather than on legal theory, providing practical knowledge/insights for legal professionals, policymakers, data protection authorities and academics;

▪compares practices in eight different European countries, showing different ways of addressing data protection issues and disclosing best practices;

▪shows that, despite legal harmonization across the EU, practical differences in the implementation, interpretation and enforcement continue to exist.



About the authors:



Bart Custers is Associate Professor and Director of Research at the Center for Law and Digital Technologies of the Leiden Law School at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Alan M. Sears, Francien Dechesne, Ilina Georgieva and Tomasso Tani are all affiliated to that same organization, of which Professor Simone van der Hof is the General Director.