If it is easy to follow the law, then the cost of a compliance expert on this topic would be low. It is not low. Compliance is expensive, even for companies who don't make their money from data. Therefore, I don't think it's that easy.
That doesn't follow. It's easy to follow the law, but because a lot of companies were doing things that were against the law, and given that a lot of companies put things off til the last minute, it took a lot of work to come into compliance.