[hyperman1]

This.

There were plenty of EU countries with privacy laws. The laws were all ignored by all but the largest companies in the country. Getting FAANG to take note of local law was basically impossible.

On paper, the GDPR is weaker than what it replaced in my country. I lost some privacy rights with the GDPR, and gained some bureacratics if I want my rights enforced. In practice, the GDPR gets some following, even outside the EU. It has teeth.