UK Edition
This app will read out GDPR regulations to send you to sleep
A meditation app will read out the text of Europe's lengthy new data protection rules to get users to relax and send them to sleep.
The lullaby, made from a section of the 57,509-word document produced by the European Union, will be released this Friday when the new data protection rules come into effect.
Called “Once upon a GDPR”, the 34-minute piece of audio is read out by Peter Jefferson who for four decades delivered the BBC’s Shipping Forecast, which became known for being a sleep aid for radio listeners.
The producers of the bedtime tale, sleep and meditation app Calm, were inspired by the 209-page statute that is designed to offer greater protection for users over their data and privacy.
While all the confusion around GDPR and its implications have caused a lot of individuals and business stress, the lullaby’s creator Alex Tew, co-founder of Calm, believes it is “a new insomnia cure”.
Mr Tew said: “Insomnia is a modern epidemic, the search for a cure is a new Holy Grail. GDPR may be our new best hope.
“New laws aren’t meant to be exciting. That’s not their role. But GDPR could sedate a buffalo.”
The apps new “Sleep Story” invites those having trouble sleeping, either due to GDPR in particular or due to other stress during the day, to drift off to a lengthy extract containing “the most soothing passages” of the regulations.
“So many people and businesses are stressing over complying with GDPR,” says Michael Acton Smith, co-founder of Calm. “It seems so long, complicated and impenetrable. Will they ever get it right?
“Our new Sleep Story is the antidote to GDPR stress.”
The “bedtime story for grown-ups” is the latest addition to Calm’s library of nearly 100 stories, which have been listened to almost 60 million times since the app’s launch 18 months ago.
To add to the stress companies may be under, new GDPR laws will see organisations risk even larger fines for failing compliance to the regulations. While penalties issued by the Information Commissioner's Office last year did reach £4.2m for UK businesses, GDPR fines could see businesses pay up to €20m (£17.5m) or 4 per cent of global turnover, depending which is higher.