Lawyers in the United States know about the General Data Protection Regulation the same way that a child knows about the boogeyman. They know it’s out there, and they know it’s scary—but when you get down to specifics, things get hazy fast.

The truth is, even those of us in Europe cannot yet know in great detail what the GDPR will look like in practice—despite the fact that it has been hiding under our beds for quite some time. From the moment the GDPR was approved in April 2016 to when it took effect last month, we have had two years to prepare. Even so, before any of us have had practical experience with the new regulatory structure and its enforcement, we can only know the broad strokes. We know that the GDPR promises to mark a sea change in how companies can use consumers’ data. We know that it was created to grant consumers greater control over their data and result in more uniform privacy rules across the EU. And we know that punishments for violating the GDPR laws sound draconian. For running afoul of the new rules, companies may face fines of up to $24.6 million (scary) or 4 percent of their annual revenue (genuinely horrifying), whichever is greater.

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