Here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the GDPR:
I have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in Europe. I prefer to say no more for privacy's sake.
The letter cited above was read to the congregation last night.
The reaction? Everyone was utterly gob-smacked.
Everyone was talking about it after the meeting. "How are we supposed to work our territory? How can we keep track of our return visits?" Even old-timers who blindly and cheerfully swallow all of the WTS schtick were confused.
Elders were just as gob-smacked. There was some sort of "emergency huddle" in the elders room prior to the meeting, which broke up only seconds before the meeting start time.
The elder who read the letter at the end of the meeting instructed the congregation that all existing territory maps should be destroyed immediately. If you have a territory checked out, destroy it and let the territory servant know, and he will provide a new map. Maybe that's what the elders were discussing beforehand?
The territories to be destroyed are the ones that have lists of addresses and an indicator that the residents speak [XYZ language]. The new maps, presumably, will contain street names & boundaries only.
This is a huge, huge change. Virtually the only growth in Europe for the past 20-25 years has come from foreign language groups & congregations, targeting immigrants.
The GDPR has knee-capped the efforts of every last one of those congregations.
Within 3 years you're going to see -2, -3, -4% publisher "growth" all across Europe....if the WTS still publishes the numbers, that is.
Oh, and there are apparently a number of US states that will implement a GDPR-like law as soon as 2020. I remember California (which holds something like 1/6 of the US population) is one of those states. So the work in the US will soon experience a similar crippling effect.
The door to door work is on life support.