When we started developing the film, we knew we wanted a European subject. Not because Europe is better — the data economy operates globally, and the differences between jurisdictions are often smaller than they appear. But because the regulatory context is different, and that difference matters to the story.
GDPR gave European citizens rights that Americans do not have: the right to access their data, the right to have it deleted, the right to know how it is being used. Ana has used all of these rights. She has filed dozens of erasure requests. She has received dozens of responses — some compliant, some evasive, some that appear to comply while actually doing very little.
Her experience is a useful corrective to the idea that regulation solves the problem. It helps. It creates friction. It gives individuals tools they would not otherwise have. But it does not make the data economy disappear. It makes it more complicated.
Lisbon was also, practically, a good place to film. The light is extraordinary. Ana's neighborhood — a quiet street in Mouraria — has a texture that the camera loves. We spent three weeks there in the spring and came back with more footage than we expected.
Ana is, of all our subjects, the one whose choices feel most legible to us. She is doing this for her children. That is a motivation most people can understand, even if they would make different choices.