I have filed several GDPR art.77 complaints. Every,single,complaint → mothballed.

So I must ask: is it just high-profile or high visibility cases submitted by reputable orgs like NoYB that get enforced? Has anyone here personally filed an art.77 complaint as a no-name individual on behalf of yourself and gotten results from the DPA?

For me, the GDPR is essentially non-existent. I believe the EU masses believe they can live fast-and-loose with their digital footprints because they are under an illusion that the GDPR will protect them. I used think the US must be annoyed with the GDPR because it would seem to put tech giants under control. But in fact it apparently creates a false sense of security in Europe that exposes off-guard Europeans to surveillance capitalism to an unexpected extent.

I encourage EU folks to exercise their imaginary GDPR rights (e.g. make access requests and erasure requests). And when a data controller ignores the request submit an art.77 complaint to experience the dysfunction 1st-hand. Some data controllers will simply comply. This is because they are also unaware of the lack of enforcement.

  • Mr. Tambourine Man@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    I filed a complaint (in 2019) and received a letter back (in 2021) with the message that their office was overwhelmed with requests (in NL).

    The complaint involved Google not giving me back all data I had uploaded to them (which was for self-employed/professional purposes).

    Not what you wanted to hear, but it sounds like this is the norm.

    • freedomPusher@sopuli.xyzOPM
      2·
      2 days ago

      I don’t recall off the top of my head what the average case length is in various member states, but it was published in 2024 when the EU collected reports on the GDPR progress. In 2024, everyone (people and orgs) could give the EU feedback on the GDPR’s effectiveness. I think it happens every 4 years. The report from the EDPB to the EC contained stats. So if you dig that up it will show what the average length of a complaint is. IIRC, 2 years was the worst average timeframe of all countries. I don’t recall which country had that average, but I tend to figure if my complaint idles for 2 years then I will consider it mothballed.

  • lemmyknow@lemmy.today
    3·
    2 days ago

    I’ve an old account, in a forum, I cannot access due to long-lost 2FA (thanks, Google Authenticator [which I no longer use]). No luck in contacting the email the forum publicly displays. No replies, no help. No matter if I am honest, if I beg, if I threaten GDPR.

    And so I tried GDPR a few times, to no avail. I’ve gotten to the point of gathering evidence on contact with the forum email. I guess the best closure I got is “welp, they’re in the US. Nothing we can do”.

    It’s been YEARS I’ve been trying to free myself of this account, which not only contains stuff I’d rather not be seen by anyone, but also features a commonly used username of mine, meaning it CAN be found by people who know me.

    It fears me of using some of my accounts due to the risk of someone looking it up and finding the publicly available (and, thanks to deleting old accounts, easily findable) forum posts.

    Just this past weekend I decided to go back there and submit another one. But I got kinda confused when they started asking “entity” information. I assumed it was mine, but the next step was filling my information, so idk what the entity is. Do I have to have a company of some sort to submit this? Or is the entity the forum I am to request help about? I gave up. But surely I’ll go back

    I truly hope this eventually works out. To free myself of this account, peace of mind worth a celebration party