https://qz.com/1249076/the-uk-regulator-investigating-cambridge-analytica-gets-awesome-new-powers-next-month-but-it-cant-compete-with-private-sector-salaries/

Data protection, a once-obscure field of compliance, is having a moment. Next month, a sweeping set of rules called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) go into effect in the European Union. They’re being called the “gold standard” for laws of their kind in the internet age.

With the GDPR, European regulators gain a potent weapon. Under the new rules, privacy regulators can levy fines of up to 4% of a company’s revenue if it falls foul of the law. Christopher Graham, a former British information commissioner, called it “the big stick in the cupboard” when he spoke to an audience of corporate compliance pros at a conference in London a few years ago. They were the ones tasked with helping their employers avoid the stick. “This is slap-bang on the risk register of any organization,” Graham told his potential targets from the lectern.