Unless you’re someone who’s completely isolated from the digital world, you’ve probably noticed that your email has been bombarded in the past few weeks with messages from social networks letting you know that they’ve updated their privacy policies.
That’s because companies were preparing their sites for the European Union’s privacy legislation called the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Designed to give online privacy rights back to users and ensure social networks and third-parties don’t take advantage of them, the legislation overhauls how companies and organizations handle data.
Of course, not everyone stays up to date on European legislation, and quite a few Americans took to Twitter to make jokes about all of the emails they were receiving. It didn’t take long for the internet to turn GDPR into a meme.
Rian Johnson, director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, may have just made the best GDPR meme yet. He turned the iconic opening scrawl of words from the movies into an updated privacy policies email.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) May 24, 2018
There were a few other GDPR memes that came in a close second to Johnson.
Finds deserted island
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) May 24, 2018
a message in a bottle washes onto the beach
*opens bottle*
We’ve updated our Privacy Policy
https://twitter.com/marimolina385/status/999735087896907777
My vagina has updated her privacy policy.
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) May 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/NifMuhammad/status/999844851909881856
*uses ouiji board* “w…e…” “oh my god!” “v…e updated our privacy policy”
— Kati (@katij_25) May 23, 2018
I'm
— darcie (@333333333433333) May 25, 2018
⚪️ Gay
⚪️ Straight
🔘 valuing your privacy and striving to make our policies about your personal data clear. I have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service to reflect changes in data protection laws that raise the global standard for personal data privacy
my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard and they're like "we've updated our privacy policy. "
— Chloe Dungate (@ScarfDemon) May 24, 2018
*Opens fridge*
— b.b (@benoobrown) May 25, 2018
“We’ve updated our privacy policy”
Faint radio signal from a distant solar system detected.
— John Nejady (@JohnNejady) May 25, 2018
Many think it may the first signs of extraterrestrial life.
Earths greatest minds diverted to decipher it.
'We have updated our privacy policy'
LADIES. Picture this. It’s the year 3,000. You’re a retired successful business owner. Your home is beautiful. Your grandchildren are all in college. We just wanted to let you know that we updated our privacy policy. Life is perfect. ❤️
— Colton Campbell (@big_CSC) May 25, 2018
GDPR went into effect on Friday. See how the legislation affects different users based on where they’re located.