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I was under the impression that the EU privacy laws (GDPR etc) applied to EU citizens regardless of location. If that impression is correct, then isn't it the case that nothing meaningful, privacy-wise, will change for the author even after this change to their account, as long as they remain a German citizen?

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No, that's not correct. As an EU citizen living abroad, using non-EU based services, the GDPR will not apply. It would also be impossible to enforce something like that.

The GDPR does apply to non-EU based services but no enforcement is possible.

So it doesn't matter where you live if the service is out of reach of this law.

>The GDPR does apply to non-EU based services

That's only correct with regards to the processing of data subjects who are in the European Union. See Art. 3.2 of the GDPR.

Here's how Madison.com handles this:

"451: Unavailable due to legal reasons

We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, contact ..."

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