Happy GDPR Day! The best jokes and memes as new EU data laws rolled out

Jubilant customers are celebrating as the rollout of new EU data protection laws ended weeks of pesky spam emails.

Firms across Europe have been contacting subscribers to ask their explicit permission to keep emailing them, as per the incoming GDPR legislation.

The new rules, which came into effect on Friday, are intended to overhaul how businesses process and handle individuals' personal data.

In a rather festive tweet, @limeandonion wrote: "Happy GDPR Day! We put the GDPR tree up last night and laid out milk and cookies for the Data Protection Officer.

"Can't wait to open the pressies!"

Mark Di Stefano, media and politics reporter at Buzzfeed, highlighted the plight of a number of US websites - including the LA Times - which are currently unavailable in the EU due to the new rules:

While Matthew Hall felt a disturbance in the force...

Dr Paul Coxon, a scientist at Cambridge University, felt most people had forgotten the true meaning of GDPR Day.

While Scottish radio presenter Cassi Gillespie shared this phonetically friendly interpreation of the new data roles for her listeners.

And the New Statesman's John Elledge simply added: "My GDPR presents were rubbish."

Under GDPR, businesses must receive explicit consent from their customers to hold onto their data.

Those that do not comply face fines of up to £17m or four per cent of global turnover by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

GDPR legislation comes into effect on Friday. To find out everything you need to know about the new rules, click here.