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Fall asleep in seconds by listening to a soothing voice read the EU’s new GDPR legislation

Fall asleep in seconds by listening to a soothing voice read the EU’s new GDPR legislation

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‘New laws aren’t meant to be exciting — but this one could sedate a buffalo’

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‘Once Upon a GDPR’ inside the Calm app.
‘Once Upon a GDPR’ inside the Calm app.
Image: James Vincent / The Verge

Last month, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, triggering a wave of panic among unprepared tech companies. This month, why not harness the power of that legislation to calm your own worries and get a good night’s sleep?

Meditation app Calm provides what it calls “bedtime stories for grown-ups” (an eclectic mix of lullabies, fairy tales, and short stories in audiobook form). But it’s now added highlights from the GDPR legislation to its roster, narrated aloud by former BBC radio announcer Peter Jefferson, who is famous in the UK for his readings of the Shipping Forecast — a nightly maritime weather report that’s cherished by non-maritime listeners for its repetitive and ritual qualities.

Jefferson doesn’t read the entire legislation (“which would take more than all night”), but he picks out more than half an hour of material, which is enough to send anyone to sleep. You can listen to an excerpt for yourself below, or download the app from Google Play or the App Store. Unfortunately, you have to pay to unlock the full GDPR reading (and a number of other Calm features), but you can test them all with a seven-day free trial.