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EU residents, actually, and yes, geolocation is satisfactory -- you can hit EU residents as long as you're not intending to hit them, and are doing nothing in c

EU residents, actually, and yes, geolocation is satisfactory -- you can hit EU residents as long as you're not intending to hit them, and are doing nothing in contradiction to that intention (like translating your content into Polish, for example).

briandear 8y ago
> like translating your content into Polish, for example There are Polish speakers that aren't Polish citizens. Translating to Polish doesn't prove an intent to sell to Poland any more than having a page in English implies trying to sell to England. There is nothing in the law that says that translating into Polish or another language common in the EU results in GDPR being applied. The actual law says, "This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the Union by a controller or processor not established in the Union, where the processing activities are related to: the offering of goods or services, irrespective of whether a payment of the data subject is required, to such data subjects in the Union; or the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the Union." That's it. "Offering goods or services" can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but translating into a language doesn't mean anything. People speak German in communities all over the world. Even offering payment in Euros isn't necessarily targeting the EU. Plenty of EU expats have Euro accounts, particularly those based in Africa and Asia. So it's perfectly normal to have a German language site, selling products in Euros, targeting Germans in Shanghai and have that not be in GDPR scope. However, an English language site, selling in US dollars showing Berlin apartment listings targeting American expats in Germany -- that would be in GDPR Scope. The language and currency have nothing to do with it. It's the intended audience that matters and that can be often determined by the product/content being sold/delivered. The point of my rant is that too many people are reducing GDPR into some ridiculously simplistic terms such as "can't use euros, can't use an EU language" or similar. However, the actual reality isn't so sophomoric.
- lmkg 8y ago
  Recital 23 digs into more detail about what is considered "targeting." Choice quote: > Whereas [...] the use of a language generally used in > the third country where the controller is established, > is insufficient to ascertain such intention, factors > such as the use of a language or a currency generally > used in one or more Member States [...] may make it > apparent that the controller envisages offering goods > or services to data subjects in the Union. You are correct that reality is a bit more nuanced, but I think that saying "language and currency have nothing to do with it" is not a supportable claim. Audience and intent matters, but if you have German-language content in a country without a large German-language population, you are going to need a very good excuse why you aren't targeting Germans. People don't have time to type every single caveat and exception. Translating to Polish is going to be targeting Polish geography 99% of the time.

briandear 8y ago

> like translating your content into Polish, for example There are Polish speakers that aren't Polish citizens. Translating to Polish doesn't prove an intent to sell to Poland any more than having a page in English implies trying to sell to England. There is nothing in the law that says that translating into Polish or another language common in the EU results in GDPR being applied. The actual law says, "This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the Union by a controller or processor not established in the Union, where the processing activities are related to: the offering of goods or services, irrespective of whether a payment of the data subject is required, to such data subjects in the Union; or the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the Union." That's it. "Offering goods or services" can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but translating into a language doesn't mean anything. People speak German in communities all over the world. Even offering payment in Euros isn't necessarily targeting the EU. Plenty of EU expats have Euro accounts, particularly those based in Africa and Asia. So it's perfectly normal to have a German language site, selling products in Euros, targeting Germans in Shanghai and have that not be in GDPR scope. However, an English language site, selling in US dollars showing Berlin apartment listings targeting American expats in Germany -- that would be in GDPR Scope. The language and currency have nothing to do with it. It's the intended audience that matters and that can be often determined by the product/content being sold/delivered. The point of my rant is that too many people are reducing GDPR into some ridiculously simplistic terms such as "can't use euros, can't use an EU language" or similar. However, the actual reality isn't so sophomoric.

lmkg 8y ago
Recital 23 digs into more detail about what is considered "targeting." Choice quote: > Whereas [...] the use of a language generally used in > the third country where the controller is established, > is insufficient to ascertain such intention, factors > such as the use of a language or a currency generally > used in one or more Member States [...] may make it > apparent that the controller envisages offering goods > or services to data subjects in the Union. You are correct that reality is a bit more nuanced, but I think that saying "language and currency have nothing to do with it" is not a supportable claim. Audience and intent matters, but if you have German-language content in a country without a large German-language population, you are going to need a very good excuse why you aren't targeting Germans. People don't have time to type every single caveat and exception. Translating to Polish is going to be targeting Polish geography 99% of the time.