5 ms·

I thought the UK was no longer a part of the EU?

by bmer 8y ago

tankenmate 8y ago
Tentatively scheduled for a May 2019 departure, but still sticking to EU rules until end of 2020. And finally the UK will probably always adhere to the GDPR, member of EU or not, otherwise it will be at a massive disadvantage for tech companies dealing with Europe.
- landryraccoon 8y ago
  > And finally the UK will probably always adhere to the GDPR, member of EU or not, otherwise it will be at a massive disadvantage for tech companies dealing with Europe. I really don't see how this is the case. A small website will be going after product market fit, then they can scale and do compliance. Not adhering to GDPR means your websites can always become compliant later. To put it another way, Facebook and Google started in the US. Any founder in the EU might consider moving to the US first, getting product market fit before worrying about GDPR compliance, then get compliance once you know your product is good and you aren't just throwing that work away.
  - tankenmate 8y ago
    GDPR applies to all data controllers anywhere on the earth, if you hold private data of EU citizens or residents and don't follow the GDPR then any EU country's data protection authority can choose to prosecute. The only way to avoid the GDPR is to not hold personal identifying information on any EU citizens or EU residents.
- genma_it 8y ago
  I find funny how people assume by default that the UK will not make even worst laws after Brexit.
galvin 8y ago
They are still in the process of leaving and until they do they are subject to EU regulations.
AdamGibbins 8y ago
One interpretation of GDPR is that it applies to EU citizens globally, irrelevant of where the company or its data is hosted.
- cyberferret 8y ago
  That is our understanding of it too. It doesn't matter where your company is incorporated, or where your hosting provider stores the data - as long as an EU resident uses your service, you have to comply. I could be wrong, but we are erring on the side of caution with our SaaS app and treating this as the case.
  - adventured 8y ago
    edit: I understand this is an unpopular fact. However it is a fact that the EU does not have global jurisdiction to overrule foreign national sovereignty and dictate legislation. US businesses do not need to comply with GDPR if they are doing no business in the EU, period. No, you do not have to comply if you're outside of the EU's jurisdiction. They can only hit you if you've got business in the EU that they can directly touch. Facebook, Google, etc. are aggressively complying because they want to continue making money in the EU. They'll have to overrule eg US or Chinese jurisdiction to force outside companies to comply with GDPR. How exactly do they intend to force compliance upon the two global superpowers with $34 trillion in economic output? It's laughable. US Federal courts will bury any attempts by the EU to legislate US laws/regulations on these matters. If I'm a US service/site, I do no business in the EU, and I store information from EU residents on my servers in the US, the EU can't force me to comply with GDPR. They have no means to force that compliance, and to overrule or dictate US domestic laws. The EU doesn't govern the world's laws, if they didn't already realize that they're about to discover it.
    - cyberferret 8y ago
      Does that still apply if we are a 'data processor' according to their definition? We are an Australian company, with servers based in the US, and we have EU companies actually using our SaaS to manage their employee's information (also based in the EU). We haven't had formal legal advise on this, but upon discussions with other service providers, it seems we still have to be compliant because our paying customers who actually own the data are based in the EU.
M2Ys4U 8y ago
1. The UK is still a member of the European Union 2. The GDPR is already law, it just had a 2 year delay before it fully came in to force

I thought the UK was no longer a part of the EU?

by bmer 8y ago

I thought the UK was no longer a part of the EU?

Tentatively scheduled for a May 2019 departure, but still sticking to EU rules until end of 2020. And finally the UK will probably always adhere to the GDPR, member of EU or not, otherwise it will be at a massive disadvantage for tech companies dealing with Europe.

landryraccoon 8y ago
> And finally the UK will probably always adhere to the GDPR, member of EU or not, otherwise it will be at a massive disadvantage for tech companies dealing with Europe. I really don't see how this is the case. A small website will be going after product market fit, then they can scale and do compliance. Not adhering to GDPR means your websites can always become compliant later. To put it another way, Facebook and Google started in the US. Any founder in the EU might consider moving to the US first, getting product market fit before worrying about GDPR compliance, then get compliance once you know your product is good and you aren't just throwing that work away.
- tankenmate 8y ago
  GDPR applies to all data controllers anywhere on the earth, if you hold private data of EU citizens or residents and don't follow the GDPR then any EU country's data protection authority can choose to prosecute. The only way to avoid the GDPR is to not hold personal identifying information on any EU citizens or EU residents.
genma_it 8y ago
I find funny how people assume by default that the UK will not make even worst laws after Brexit.

galvin 8y ago

They are still in the process of leaving and until they do they are subject to EU regulations.

AdamGibbins 8y ago

One interpretation of GDPR is that it applies to EU citizens globally, irrelevant of where the company or its data is hosted.

cyberferret 8y ago
That is our understanding of it too. It doesn't matter where your company is incorporated, or where your hosting provider stores the data - as long as an EU resident uses your service, you have to comply. I could be wrong, but we are erring on the side of caution with our SaaS app and treating this as the case.
- adventured 8y ago
  edit: I understand this is an unpopular fact. However it is a fact that the EU does not have global jurisdiction to overrule foreign national sovereignty and dictate legislation. US businesses do not need to comply with GDPR if they are doing no business in the EU, period. No, you do not have to comply if you're outside of the EU's jurisdiction. They can only hit you if you've got business in the EU that they can directly touch. Facebook, Google, etc. are aggressively complying because they want to continue making money in the EU. They'll have to overrule eg US or Chinese jurisdiction to force outside companies to comply with GDPR. How exactly do they intend to force compliance upon the two global superpowers with $34 trillion in economic output? It's laughable. US Federal courts will bury any attempts by the EU to legislate US laws/regulations on these matters. If I'm a US service/site, I do no business in the EU, and I store information from EU residents on my servers in the US, the EU can't force me to comply with GDPR. They have no means to force that compliance, and to overrule or dictate US domestic laws. The EU doesn't govern the world's laws, if they didn't already realize that they're about to discover it.
  - cyberferret 8y ago
    Does that still apply if we are a 'data processor' according to their definition? We are an Australian company, with servers based in the US, and we have EU companies actually using our SaaS to manage their employee's information (also based in the EU). We haven't had formal legal advise on this, but upon discussions with other service providers, it seems we still have to be compliant because our paying customers who actually own the data are based in the EU.

M2Ys4U 8y ago

1. The UK is still a member of the European Union 2. The GDPR is already law, it just had a 2 year delay before it fully came in to force