Guidelines for U.S. firms operating in Europe could become much tighter as Europe’s data protection watchdog is calling to enforce costly fines on businesses violating new data-privacy rules. This should act as a wakeup call for U.S. businesses to get serious about this issue. The European Commission and many national governments are pushing for a maximum fine of as much as 2% of global revenue or $1.1 million for violations, but the European Parliament is urging for the adoption of a stricter 5% fine. The main criticism of the proposed fines comes from firms expressing concern over heightened risk for companies operating in Europe. Liam Benham, International Business Machine’s Vice President for Government Affairs in Europe, says, “Increasing risk related to processing data may negatively impact the growing data economy and will likely impede start-ups and new market entrants. Regulation should…focus on encouraging rather than discouraging data-driven innovation in Europe.” Sequel will be monitoring the third round of negotiations on this issue, which will occur in mid-September. To read more, the Wall Street Journal has the full story.