Fines and reported data breaches might have increased in the past year, but law firm DLA Piper believes the penalties handed out under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are not as harsh as they could have been—though that could change in 2020.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...