You must have a really short memory to say that "regulators are not enemies". Just look at any history book, tell me what you find.
Since English is not my first language, it tires me to write in it, so I'll give a little example that will destroy the "GDPR protects privacy" once and for all.
If I make a website with a comment system, or maybe a forum, I need to reveal to the world my identity otherwise the EU will go after me.
You see, before GDPR I could put up a website, put on WHOIS privacy using a company unreachable by the EU, and then create a cool forum where I criticize the stupid policies of the european governments (and I can tell you, there are a lot).
My identity would be REALLY protected, and even my political stance. "Who is this guy explaining people why we're so bad? Damn him!", would say the evil bureaucrats while stroking his Stalin-inspired mustache.
Instead now I need to write a stupid page where I say "[MY NAME] will manage your data this and this way". So, the government will know my political stance and my opinions, will have a complete name to easily link to the website. But there is more! After that, not only they'll have my name, but yet an extra set of law, with wide space for interpretations, that they can use to persecute me further. They can drag me to court because "I didn't treat data right", and it doesn't matter if I was complying or not, the risk of going to court is enough for many people to just not open the website.
Of course, I make the political example, but think about sexual fetishes forum and things like that. The EU wants me to reveal to the world what my sexual preferences are, with all the risks that come with it! That's what the GDPR is. I can't even make a website to discuss my sexual tastes without telling the world who I am!
To sum it up:
if you create a website, your privacy will be lost, and everyone will be able to know that you are the creator of that website. Then, many people won't create websites because they'll be scared of being dragged to court. Small, indpendent, websites will die and only big companies will rule the internet.
This is the reality and I don't know how people who supposedly use the internet in a professional way can't see it.