Fleeing the GDPR
The EU's new Data Protection regulation won't be enforced for two weeks but several companies have already said they're shutting up shop in Europe because of the legislation. Arguably, this is persuasive evidence that the GDPR is working exactly as intended. Among those closing their doors to European users is Unroll.me, a controversial app which offers email management features in return for access to your inbox. It then analyses your emails and sells anything with commercial value (which is how Uber gathered data on users of its competitor, Lyft). In a section on its website that has mysteriously disappeared but is still cached, Unroll.me suggests the legislation is so complex that it needs more time to prepare for it. This would carry more weight if there hadn't been a two-year grace period for everyone to get ready.