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New data protection regulations pose major challenges for companies this year. Many of them often lack sufficiently qualified personnel for implementation of the new rules. More than every second company (56 percent) in Germany has less than one full-time position planned for employees who mainly deal with data protection issues. This is the result of a representative company survey commissioned by the digital association Bitkom.

The U.S. Supreme Court is facing a landmark ruling: the U.S. government wants it to deeply intervene in European data protection. In February 2018, the court hears a case on whether a US authority may require companies to give them direct access to personal data stored outside the US. A decision is expected by summer 2018. "Direct access by US authorities to personal data from Europe is incompatible with European data protection law," says Bitkom CEO Dr. Bernhard Rohleder.

Only one in two companies in Germany has so far looked for help from external experts in implementing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Only 48 percent of all companies with 20 or more employees claim to have called in specialists outside their own company. This is the result of a representative survey of more than 500 companies commissioned by the digital association Bitkom.

How to reach a common practice on privacy in a globally connected and digital economy was the key question at this year’s Privacy Conference in Berlin. The motto of the event, which took place at Kalkscheune Berlin on 22 September, was “Dare the Leap!“.

The large majority of companies in Germany might be facing millions in fines within a few months. On May 25, 2018, after a two-year transition period, the provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) must be implemented - but only a minority will be able to meet this deadline.