4 ms·

There is some potent American law lurking about, so I'm not going to assume the GDPR is enforceable in ways untested in U.S. court.

Xelbair 7y ago
If a company does business in Europe, they must comply with GDPR. It' doesn't matter where they are located. It won't even go to US court, but to EU one.
- SamReidHughes 7y ago
  The EU court needs to actually be able to enforce its decisions, which may require a US court.
  - witrak 7y ago
    Are you sure that American companies are immune to fines resulting from EU court sentences if they want to make business in EU?
    - majewsky 7y ago
      If at all, then only as long as they're conducting their business with EU customers entirely from the US. As soon as they're putting servers in a colo in the EU, there's something that EU authorities could confiscate to cover outstanding fines.
      - xxs 7y ago
        this has been explained tons of times. You cannot conduct business in the EU unless you have a VAT number issued by any of the member (still 28) states. You cannot sell anything in the EU w/o VAT, it'd be illegal. The company =must= pay the collected VAT to the respective member state(s). So they have to register in the EU to conduct business (and issue VAT receipts). This requires some assets and people to be responsible. The only way to conduct business outside is a small shipments (less than 22e) that would be free of VAT and customs clearance.
    - SamReidHughes 7y ago
      The EU could certainly stop them from doing business there. Beyond that, you can't be sure they could collect fines. It may depend on the technical details of what the fines are about, and how big they are. America has human rights that privacy regulations like California's CCPA are careful to waltz around.
xiphias2 7y ago
https://gdpr.eu/compliance-checklist-us-companies/ https://gdpr.eu/compliance-checklist-us-companies/ Good luck trying your luck with international law. ,,You may be wondering how the European Union will enforce a law in territory it does not control. The fact is, foreign governments help other countries enforce their laws through mutual assistance treaties and other mechanisms all the time. GDPR Article 50 addresses this question directly. So far, the EU’s reach has not been tested, but no doubt data protection authorities are exploring their options on a case-by-case basis.''

Xelbair 7y ago

If a company does business in Europe, they must comply with GDPR. It' doesn't matter where they are located. It won't even go to US court, but to EU one.

SamReidHughes 7y ago
The EU court needs to actually be able to enforce its decisions, which may require a US court.
- witrak 7y ago
  Are you sure that American companies are immune to fines resulting from EU court sentences if they want to make business in EU?
  - majewsky 7y ago
    If at all, then only as long as they're conducting their business with EU customers entirely from the US. As soon as they're putting servers in a colo in the EU, there's something that EU authorities could confiscate to cover outstanding fines.
    - xxs 7y ago
      this has been explained tons of times. You cannot conduct business in the EU unless you have a VAT number issued by any of the member (still 28) states. You cannot sell anything in the EU w/o VAT, it'd be illegal. The company =must= pay the collected VAT to the respective member state(s). So they have to register in the EU to conduct business (and issue VAT receipts). This requires some assets and people to be responsible. The only way to conduct business outside is a small shipments (less than 22e) that would be free of VAT and customs clearance.
  - SamReidHughes 7y ago
    The EU could certainly stop them from doing business there. Beyond that, you can't be sure they could collect fines. It may depend on the technical details of what the fines are about, and how big they are. America has human rights that privacy regulations like California's CCPA are careful to waltz around.

xiphias2 7y ago

https://gdpr.eu/compliance-checklist-us-companies/ https://gdpr.eu/compliance-checklist-us-companies/ Good luck trying your luck with international law. ,,You may be wondering how the European Union will enforce a law in territory it does not control. The fact is, foreign governments help other countries enforce their laws through mutual assistance treaties and other mechanisms all the time. GDPR Article 50 addresses this question directly. So far, the EU’s reach has not been tested, but no doubt data protection authorities are exploring their options on a case-by-case basis.''