What’s Changing Under New EU Data Privacy Rules

Europe’s new data and privacy rules take effect Friday, clarifying individual rights to the personal data collected by companies around the world for targeted advertising and other purposes.

Years in the making, the rules are prompting companies to rewrite their privacy policies and in some cases, apply the European Union’s tougher standards even in the U.S. and other regions where privacy laws are weak. Although they take effect as Facebook faces an enormous privacy crisis , that timing is largely coincidental.

Not much will change for you, at least right away; companies will keep on collecting and analyzing personal data from your phone, the apps you use and the sites you visit. The big difference is that now, the companies will have to justify why they’re collecting and using that information. And they’re prevented from using data for a different purpose later.

So now companies have been flooding their users with notices that aim to better explain their practices and the privacy choices they offer. EU regulators have new powers to go after companies that get too grabby or that don’t tell you clearly what they’re doing with your data.

Here’s a look at what the rules say and what they mean for consumers in the EU and elsewhere.

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THE BIG DEAL WITH MAY 25

That’s when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation takes effect. Instead of separate rules in separate nations across Europe, there’s now a single set for the entire EU.

The new rules apply to all users in the 28-nation EU, regardless of where the companies collecting, analyzing and using their data are…