'Countries EU not ready for protecting data'

brussels - Over a hundred days, strict European legislation on privacy and data protection will come into effect, but only Austria and Germany have the necessary regulations in order. The European Commission urges the other Member States to make haste.

The countries must ensure that their supervisors- in the Netherlands the Personal Data Authority- are adequately equipped. To this end, and for the training of data protection specialists, Brussels has made a total of 3.7 million euros available. Such officers are required for large companies.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted in 2016 will enter into force on 25 May. Governments, companies and other organizations are obliged to show which personal data they collect and how they are used and protected.

Users must be able to understand what information is stored about them and can exercise control over them. Who wants a company no longer to process information about him or her, gets the right to have that data scrapped. The rules surrounding data leaks are also tightened.

The legislation also applies to companies from outside the EU with European users, such as Facebook. Fines up to 4 percent of the worldwide turnover, with a minimum of 20 million euros, are to be imposed by national supervisors. The replacement of the patchwork of national laws by a single European law would save an estimated 2.3 billion euros per year.

'We need modern rules to respond to new risks, so we call on all EU governments, regulators and companies to use the remaining time efficiently and be prepared for the big day', EU Commissioner Vera Jourova (Justice) said..