ABSTRACT
This chapter presents empirical evidence on the use of privacy seals and their effect on personal information disclosure and argues that the findings are of significant relevance to a range of stakeholders that includes policy makers, regulators, media firms and the public. The context of this study is the newly introduced European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which sets out to improve information transparency and give individuals greater control over their personal data. A novel privacy seal accreditation scheme is proposed in the GDPR. In addition to presenting the results, the chapter also reflects on the researcher’s engagement with the national press in relation to the GDPR. This includes a number of commissioned and published articles in a national newspaper explaining the context and key elements of the new regulation. The case is also set out for treating data protection as a public health issue that requires coordinated national government backing.
