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I was onsite at a client's retail location and got chatting to a customer. They learned I was in IT and said "I hope you're all set for GDPR!" and I said "it d

I was onsite at a client's retail location and got chatting to a customer. They learned I was in IT and said "I hope you're all set for GDPR!" and I said "it doesn't affect us". "Oh yes it does! There's a lot of people living in this area (in the US) who are European citizens - this affects you right here!" I tried to argue back politely that it didn't affect us, and she started getting a bit... agitated, and the voice started to raise a bit. I tried to de-escalate - other customers in the store would have started paying attention once the raised voice went on. But... man on man... my comeback question I was ready to put back - then stopped short - was "Do you think a 20 person brick and mortar in the middle of Spain is required to abide by US laws? They're not, even when serving customers who happen to be US citizens." I would have hoped it would have made it clear, but... stopped short of getting in to a shouting match with my client's customers. :)

cletus 8y ago
I hate to be the one to break it to you but just being in another country and being small doesn't automatically exempt you from other countries' laws. Some examples: - Australia has laws that about child sex tourism aimed at those that go to Asian countries with lax laws or enforcement. These crimes are committed in other countries [1] - Foreign financial institutions are subject to FATCA when serving US customers, an issue that has made it difficult for US expats to even open bank accounts in some jurisdictions [2] - Australia has some pretty strict insider trading laws such that two foreigners who trade in inside information about an ASX listed company while they're on foreign soil (may) have commited a crime in Australia - Sanctions on the likes of Iran and North Korea prevent US companies or persons from trading with entities from sanctioned states even if such transactions take place entirely on foreign soil. - US citizens living in other countries are required to file taxes with the IRS even though during the tax year the citizen may never have stepped foot on US soil and any income is earned and paid entirely in foreign jurisdictions. So I'm not saying GDPR applies or doesn't. I honestly don't know. I'm just saying not being in Europe and being small aren't the automatic defenses you seem to think they are. [1]: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/12/13/australia-introduces-tough-new-laws-on-child-sex-tourism.html http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/12/13/australia-intr... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance...
- Karishma1234 8y ago
  What can EU potentially do to you? I have no plans to comply with my website that gets only 5% traffic from EU. I would rather block access to those users based on trade off.
  - bmer 8y ago
    I hope a Firefox extension comes out to automatically block visiting any website that blocks EU users in general, regardless of whether you are in the EU. I would use it.
    - volkl48 8y ago
      If you have negligible EU revenue and no intentions of changing that, it makes no sense to expend any effort on complying with GDPR. Blocking EU users is a smart business choice to avoid any possible legal issues and far easier than compliance.
      - rickycook 8y ago
        fine; but it’s also a red flag for companies that do some pretty terrible things with your data... id prefer not to use a service that gives off those red flags than to chance it. we all have choices, and if a company chooses to represent itself in a shady looking way, i’ll choose to take my business elsewhere.
        woolvalley 8y ago
        Or it means... they are a small business with no EU customers.
        icebraining 8y ago
        Those are not in the scope of the GDPR anyway, as per Recital 23.
      - 8y ago

cletus 8y ago

I hate to be the one to break it to you but just being in another country and being small doesn't automatically exempt you from other countries' laws. Some examples: - Australia has laws that about child sex tourism aimed at those that go to Asian countries with lax laws or enforcement. These crimes are committed in other countries [1] - Foreign financial institutions are subject to FATCA when serving US customers, an issue that has made it difficult for US expats to even open bank accounts in some jurisdictions [2] - Australia has some pretty strict insider trading laws such that two foreigners who trade in inside information about an ASX listed company while they're on foreign soil (may) have commited a crime in Australia - Sanctions on the likes of Iran and North Korea prevent US companies or persons from trading with entities from sanctioned states even if such transactions take place entirely on foreign soil. - US citizens living in other countries are required to file taxes with the IRS even though during the tax year the citizen may never have stepped foot on US soil and any income is earned and paid entirely in foreign jurisdictions. So I'm not saying GDPR applies or doesn't. I honestly don't know. I'm just saying not being in Europe and being small aren't the automatic defenses you seem to think they are. [1]: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/12/13/australia-introduces-tough-new-laws-on-child-sex-tourism.html http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/12/13/australia-intr... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance...

Karishma1234 8y ago
What can EU potentially do to you? I have no plans to comply with my website that gets only 5% traffic from EU. I would rather block access to those users based on trade off.
- bmer 8y ago
  I hope a Firefox extension comes out to automatically block visiting any website that blocks EU users in general, regardless of whether you are in the EU. I would use it.
  - volkl48 8y ago
    If you have negligible EU revenue and no intentions of changing that, it makes no sense to expend any effort on complying with GDPR. Blocking EU users is a smart business choice to avoid any possible legal issues and far easier than compliance.
    - rickycook 8y ago
      fine; but it’s also a red flag for companies that do some pretty terrible things with your data... id prefer not to use a service that gives off those red flags than to chance it. we all have choices, and if a company chooses to represent itself in a shady looking way, i’ll choose to take my business elsewhere.
      - woolvalley 8y ago
        Or it means... they are a small business with no EU customers.
        icebraining 8y ago
        Those are not in the scope of the GDPR anyway, as per Recital 23.
    - 8y ago