Maybe you’ve gotten emails over the past few weeks from Google, Netflix or some other internet-based provider you do business with, letting you know about new privacy rules they’ve put into place.

Those messages have most likely been the result of the General Data Protection Regulation — a new European Union (EU) rule dealing with data privacy. But even though it’s an EU regulation, American consumers are affected by it as well.

Derek Bambauer, a law professor at the University of Arizona who studies internet law and cybersecurity, joined The Sow to talk about the new rule.