I can say that some IT companies take GDPR very seriously and allocate a lot of resources to make sure that they are compliant. This translates directly to greatly enhanced user privacy.

Also this might be interesting: https://www.tessian.com/blog/biggest-gdpr-fines-2020/

Things could always be better, but to say that GDPR is a failure is a bit much. No company would give the tiniest shit about these issues if GDPR didn’t exist. Now they’re forced to care at least a little bit.

Not to point out the obvious, but minimizing the tracking, fingerprinting, advertising, etc. would be an incredibly easy way for any website to comply with the GDPR. It’s not my fault your predatory advertising business model was declared illegal and is now placing burdens on you as you try to keep engaging in it.

Half the time I get served a consent banner with an extensive tracking list, I’ll just exit the site altogether.