The document provides an overview of the history of personal privacy and data protection laws from 1890 to the present. It discusses key events and regulations including the 1890 Harvard Law Review article establishing the "right to be let alone", the 1928 Olmstead vs US Supreme Court case, the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, the 1967 Katz vs US case, the 1995 European Data Protection Directive, and the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR is the successor to earlier data protection laws and establishes strict rules for handling personal data and penalties for non-compliance.