Also called General Data Protection Regulation
GDPR is the European regulation governing personal data, applying to anyone processing data about people in the EU regardless of where the business is.
It applies by the location of the person, not of the business, which is why it reaches creators worldwide the moment they have European subscribers or buyers.
Four obligations cover most creator situations: have a lawful basis for processing, tell people what you collect and why, keep it only as long as needed, and be able to honour requests for access and deletion. Consent is one lawful basis among several, not the only one.
Enforcement in practice concentrates on consent obtained badly and on requests ignored, rather than on documentation.
In practice
An unticked checkbox saying "email me about new products", separate from the purchase, is valid consent; a pre-ticked one bundled into terms is not.
Common mistake
Assuming it only applies to large companies. Scale affects some obligations, but the core duties apply from the first European subscriber.
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