This article examines three recurring database-layer failures documented in the EDPB’s 2026 enforcement findings: the complexity of executing erasure across relational schemas, the backup paradox that can silently undo compliant deletions, and the audit log contradiction that traps organizations between two competing obligations.
2026-07-14 (first published: 2026-07-13)
I have worked in more than one regulated industry, and since the banking crisis of 2008, I have witnessed a sea change in the approach to regulation. The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) was seen to be a toothless tiger. The UK government replaced the FSA with two separate bodies, each with its own more […]
2021-10-25
1,639 reads
This week Grant talks about the need for change and growth to adapt to the changing world.
2019-12-21
248 reads
There is a page where GDPR fines are tracked. None of us want to get on that page.
2019-08-22
486 reads
The way we look at data is changing, especially when data privacy and protection is considered. Today Steve has some thoughts on address data and the implications for cities as well as databases.
2025-04-11 (first published: 2019-07-16)
485 reads
The GDPR is struggling with enforcement against some of the larger tech companies. Steve thinks this is a problem, but it might not matter for smaller companies.
2019-05-09
521 reads
We don't have strong data consent rules in the US, but Steve thinks we should.
2019-04-23
281 reads
More and more data is being captured and analyzed all the time. At the same time, there are varying expectations of privacy that aren't always shared between the subjects of data and the collectors. Steve has a few thoughts on how this will play out for data professionals.
2019-04-18
351 reads
Now that the GDPR has gone into effect, many are wondering what will happen in the United States. California is the first state to enact similar legislation, called the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA). In this article, William Brewer explains the history of the law, what it means for companies doing business with California residents, and how it compares to the GDPR.
2018-10-11
2,871 reads
Since the GDPR has gone into effect, the focus has often been on databases. There are many other ways that personally identifiable data may be stored by an organization. In this article, David Poole shows how to use Bash and PowerShell to locate that data in file shares
2018-10-01
2,535 reads
By Steve Jones
I caught this interesting item over on Pinal Dave’s blog: Eleven Interview Questions that...
By Hemantgiri
I use color-coded connections in SSMS to distinguish Production, Pre-Production, UAT, and Development. But...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Split Large Queries in Athena...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finding Trailing Spaces
I have some data in a SQL Server 2025 database. It looks like this for the dbo.Customer table:
CustomerID CustomerName PreferredName 1 Steve Steve 2 Andy Andy 3 Brian Brian 4 Allan Allan 5 Devin Devin 6 Steve Steve 7 Sally SallyI want to detect which names have a single trailing space. The CustomerName is a varchar() and the PreferredName is a CHAR(). Does this query detect the problem rows?
SELECT
CustomerID,
CustomerName,
PreferredName
FROM Customer
WHERE CustomerName <> RTRIM(CustomerName)
OR PreferredName <> RTRIM(PreferredName); See possible answers