“To Harmonize or Not To Harmonize: That Is the Question.” With the the GDPR fast approaching on May 25, 2018, European Member States are getting ready with the implementation of national legislation. Although the GDPR is a regulation, and directly applicable in all Member States, it has left room for country-specific legislation in several different regards (such as the processing of employee data or individual rights restrictions). Most Member States still only have draft legislation at this point, but the expectation (or at least intention) is that each country will have adopted legislation by May 25, 2018. It remains to be seen whether the GDPR will effectively serve its purpose as a harmonization instrument, or whether businesses will be confronted with a fragmented framework in the end.

To help businesses keep track of this potentially disparate framework, the Privacy & Data Security team at Alston & Bird has created a GDPR Tracker tool summarizing all local legislative provisions that either deviate from or further specify the GDPR. This allows businesses to get a high-level overview of how national implementation diverges across Europe, and to consider a strategy accordingly.

The GDPR Tracker is structured to provide a country-specific overview of these local law deviations (with the option to download country-specific or a comprehensive PDF listing all national legislation deviations). To accommodate the Member State’s ongoing legislative process, the Tracker also offers the option to subscribe to ensure businesses do not miss out on important updates.