Rights aren't about "going after those who do us wrong". It's about establishing a relative framework by which we can try to mediate differences in opinion about whose liberties are more important in this or that situation.
Codifying something as a "right" is basically just society's way of signalling that this particular area is one where we all agree we're going to be very reluctant to step on people's individual liberties. But that doesn't mean that there are NO situations where those liberties can be impinged. Incarceration is one example.
You seem to draw a hard distinction between rights and regulation, but they're really just two tools in service of the same goal.
The point is that rights are given to individuals so they can use them if they are violated to get justice in the legal system.
Regulation is forcing companies not just to respect those rights but to force to respect them in a certain way. This breeds stagnation and ends up hurting the rights of the individual because now large companies will be able to push responsibility away under the guise of we followed the regulation.
the fact that so many here on hacker news of all places seems to be ok with that is puzzling.
What the EU is doing is regulation HOW they should act which is the sure way undermine your own citizens ability to stay competitive in the long run.