A Systematic Analysis of Data Protection Regulations

Data privacy has become central to the discussion surrounding the ever-growing usage of user data for advanced information systems. A strong legal response has come in the form of comprehensive and far-reaching data protection regulations, most notably spearheaded by the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Following in the footsteps of the GDPR, similar regulations have surfaced globally. With this steadily rising number of regulations, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay informed about new regulatory specifics; moreover, performing a comparative analysis of regulations can be quite complex. In this work, we perform a systematic analysis of 14 prominent data protection regulations from eight countries and the European Union, identifying a set of regulatory “aspects” as the basis for a comparative analysis. We present an artifact with side-by-side comparisons of these aspects for all selected regulations, helping researchers and practitioners alike who wish to comprehend the current data protection regulation landscape.