With just over a month to go until the official launch of the GDPR. The situation is heating up and the atmosphere is thickening. While some are preparing carefully, others, after careful consideration, have decided that investing in GDPR compliance measures would be self-defeating.
Among the earliest publicised defectors is Spolužáci.cz, a service from Seznam, which has recently seen its traffic drop significantly due to the popularisation of social networking, making GDPR the final nail in its coffin.
“After 14 years of operation, Seznam.cz is shutting down its Spolužáci service. It will be fully operational until May 24,” said Aneta Kapucianova of Seznam on its official blog. After that, operation will be limited, but users will be able to download their photos and other data until the end of August 2018. First of September, Classmates will definitely end.
One of the reasons for the cancellation, in addition to the drop in traffic, is the General Data Protection Regulation, which will come into force at the end of May 2018. “In order to implement the changes resulting from it on Spolužáky, we would have to rewrite the service from the ground up,” Prokop said. That would be too time-consuming and expensive, she said, which is why Seznam has decided to discontinue the service. The company has no plans to replace the service.
The Spolužáci.cz server has been in operation since 1999, and was bought by Seznam.cz five years later. Back in 2009, it was one of the most popular community networks in the Czech Republic, with around 1.5 million visitors a month. It was surpassed only by Lidé.cz, also from Seznam.cz.
What other services, apps or companies do you think will not survive the onset of GDPR? Preparation is not that difficult if you know the laws and take the time to analyse how you work with personal data. To avoid finding yourself facing the decision to shut down your app, contact us with any questions, we’ll do our best to help you cope with the onset of GDPR.
Source: https://technet.idnes.cz/sluzba-spoluzaci-cz-konci-2018-dga-/sw_internet.aspx?c=A180404_125301_sw_internet_pka