Does Vagueness in Regulation Make an Organization Less Likely to Comply?

Bernhard Ganglmair

The European Commission’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in 2018. In this video, BERNHARD GANGLMAIR analyzes the ways in which German firms responded to this regulation with a particular focus on the GDPR requirement for accessibility and readability. Studying companies’ privacy policies published between 2014 and 2021, the research shows that while the volume of information provided increased greatly, its readability generally did not. Ganglmair argues that the regulation’s failure to precisely define readability makes it more likely that films will not comply with this requirement. Continuing research will explore the relevance of competitive pressures in this context.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101161

Researcher

Bernhard Ganglmair is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Mannheim. On the board of the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI) and head of the ‘Competition and Innovation’ Junior Research Group at ZEW Mannheim, Ganglmair completed his PhD at the University of Zurich in 2011. He previously held the position of Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics at the University of Texas at Dallas. His research interests include technology standards/standardization and patents, trade secrets and the economic analysis of law. Ganglmair’s research has been published in the RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics and the Journal of Industrial Economics, among others.

University of Mannheim (Universität Mannheim)

For generations, the University of Mannheim has been preparing students to take on leadership roles in business, academia, and society. One of the university’s strengths in this task is its profile, which is characterized by the economic and social sciences. It is in these fields that the University of Mannheim has repeatedly been ranked as one of the top 20 European research institutions. Key focuses of Mannheim researchers include decision-making processes and elections, governance, regulation, competition and innovation, migration and multilingualism, and the culture of change. The campus surrounding Mannheim’s baroque palace is a place where bright minds from across the globe come together to learn, discuss, research, and prepare to make their mark on the world.

Original Publication

Regulatory Compliance with Limited Enforceability: Evidence from Privacy Policies

Bernhard Ganglmair

Julia Krämer

Jacopo Gambato

Published in 2023