It's really not about simply violating privacy. It's about the actions one takes after one violates all the privacy ever.

Big data is power. Facebook and Google know that. Everyone else had better learn. These reactions telegraph that Google and Facebook have been eagerly making use of the power they've gained, and it's obviously backfired… or, the first things they've tried to do have been totally evil and reprehensible, and successful.

Part of the goal of the GDPR is to turn massive stores of user data from a corporate asset into a legal liability. If we can get internet companies to treat user data the way brick-and-mortar companies treat hazardous chemicals--occasionally necessary for some industrial process, but best avoided where possible, and always treated with respect--then that would be a big win for society IMO.