A Deleuzian Perspective on the Right of Data Protection on Social Media

Abstract

The goal of this article is to explore – from the given theoretical framework – the effectiveness of the European Union’s data protection capabilities, namely through the General Data Protection Regulation. The first and second sections develop the theory of control societies – as well as its historical background – and connects it with the theory of surveillance capitalism as its essential component. The third section delas with some critiques that have arisen in the few years after the GDPR came into force. The conclusion of the paper is that, only a few years after the GDPR came into force, it is still too early to decisively say what effect will it have on the big data industry. However, from the problems that have been elaborated, it seems unlikely that the big data industry will be meaningfully challenged when it comes to data protection.