The privacy shield was 'shot down' because it would allow the US unprecedented access to personal data of EU civilians (including unlimited surveillance).
GDPR is not that bad. It has downsides but it is not overly complex.
Companies (including cloud services) have to comply if they want to have business in Europe.
Fines by EU: Meta: 1.5 billion Amazon: 750 million TikTok: 350 million Clearview: 30 million Apple: 1.5 billion
That's just a perspective from reality, where people are doing business rather than contriving impractical regulations out of thin air .
> GDPR is not that bad. It has downsides but it is not overly complex.
It might seem simple to consumers or politicians who claim they could implement it in a day, but it is highly complex once you have to implement it as a small or medium-sized business.
> Companies (including cloud services) have to comply if they want to have business in Europe
Large corporations - i.e. the supposed target of that regulation - scoff at GDPR. They have legal departments and the funds necessary to deal with GDPR however they see fit, while small and medium-sized business bear the brunt.