Here's why you're getting so many emails about changing privacy policies

If you've been using the Internet for a while, you've probably been deluged in recent days with a wave of emails telling you about privacy policies.

Some of these emails are from big companies like Uber or Nest. But others are from newsletters you probably don't remember signing up for.

The emails say they're related to GDPR, but what does that mean, and why are you getting so many of them this week?

GDPR is a big new piece of European regulation that stands for General Data Protection Regulation.

It outlines clear rules about how European Union citizens' data can be used by Internet companies. Though it was passed in April 2016, it's only coming into effect now.

The key to the regulation is that companies need to ask customers for their data in a clear and understandable way. It also gives users some additional rights, such as the right to not give all their information to a service but still be allowed to use it.

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