GDPR Compliance
Gianni Dell'Aiuto | WBN News Global - WBN News | September 13, 2025
Mortimer Grumbleton is not your average retiree. He has a good pension, no pressing hobbies, and—let’s be honest—too much time on his hands. Between spam emails, robocalls, and the occasional salesman ringing his doorbell, Mortimer starts to suspect that his personal data has become a public commodity.
One rainy afternoon, bored and slightly irritated, he does something most people never dare: he reads a Privacy Policy. What he finds makes his blood boil. His data—name, email, even his shopping preferences—has been sold and resold like baseball cards at a flea market.
In America, they told him, “You clicked Accept, Mortimer. Case closed.” But Mortimer has seen enough courtroom dramas to know that clicks don’t always equal consent. Class actions, deceptive practices, state privacy laws—surely there must be a way to fight back.
And then comes the real twist: Mortimer notices that the very same company’s website is accessible in Europe. In a moment of mischievous inspiration, he writes a furious letter—not to a lawyer, but to a European Data Protection Authority.
Here’s what most U.S. companies fail to realize: in Europe, data protection authorities are not one single body but independent regulators in each member state. Each of them can investigate and sanction. It wasn’t only Meta that got hit by multiple fines across half of Europe—Clearview AI has already been targeted by at least three different authorities. And the risks go far beyond monetary penalties: bans on processing European citizens’ data, orders to block entire websites, and even individual compensation claims. Now imagine if all the Mortimers of Europe woke up at once.
And don’t think Mortimer is the only one. There could be many more—perhaps that disgruntled ex-employee you just fired, eager for revenge, who writes to the regulators explaining what data he used to see: market profiling, poorly protected cloud servers, retention without purpose. Imagine if every European citizen demanded the deletion of their data and proof of compliance. Could your company afford that cost? Or is it wiser to get organized now, before the storm breaks?
That’s when the real tragedy begins. For the company, not for Mortimer. Suddenly, the weight of the GDPR and the sharp teeth of European regulators are knocking at their digital door. Fines in the millions. Public shaming. Compliance audits. All sparked by one retired man with too much free time and a knack for reading the fine print.
Mortimer Grumbleton may be cranky, irritable, even a little bored—but in the age of data, he embodies a new truth: underestimate the grumpy old man at your peril.
Tags: #Data Privacy, #GDPR Compliance, #Digital Risk Management, #European Regulators, #Corporate Data Breach, #Consumer Rights, #Cybersecurity Law
Gianni Dell’Aiuto is an Italian attorney with over 35 years of experience in legal risk management, data protection, and digital ethics. Based in Rome and proudly Tuscan, he advises businesses globally on regulations like the GDPR, AI Act, and NIS2. An author and frequent commentator on legal innovation, he helps companies turn compliance into a competitive edge while promoting digital responsibility. Click here to connect with him.
Editor: Wendy S. Huffman
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