One example would be that consumers are literally no longer allowed to give their data in exchange for a service, download, etc. Companies can still offer these

One example would be that consumers are literally no longer allowed to give their data in exchange for a service, download, etc. Companies can still offer these things and ask for the data, but the GDPR specifically disallows companies from making that thing contingent on the customer giving them the data. In my role as a consumer, I have several services I use and many companies I've given my contact info to in order to get something from them. I love being able to use my information as currency. The outcome of the GDPR's treatment will not be that these companies still create the same whitepapers, services, etc. and just give them away for free. It will be that they move their energy to something else, because the whole point in creating those resources was to get the information, and this will probably cut that ROI for that in half or more. In my business roles, I had active projects to create valuable stuff for clients around that type of thing, and they now don't make sense.