4 ms·

Really not trying to be devil's advocate here, but the company is based in Switzerland, and neither Switzerland nor UK are in the EU.

Mashimo 2y ago
Should not matter, if they target EU customers. They also have the EU cookie banner.
- WA 2y ago
  A bad one after all. There is no way to deny.
dannyw 2y ago
If you offer something to EU residents, you have to comply with GDPR. Even if you are not part of the EU.
- greatpatton 2y ago
  No if you operate in the EU you have to comply that's it. If you buy something from Joe the farmer in PA, you are the one importing it (you are paying the custom duties) and Joe the farmer doesn't have to comply with anything related to GDPR. If Joe the farmer wants to sell directly its product in the EU (not from the US) then he has to comply.
- bee_rider 2y ago
  You can break a country’s laws depending on whether or not you are ever going to go to that country, or what treaties your country has signed which might cause it to enforce other countries’ laws. These GDPR conversations tend to pointlessly go back and forth on this because one side is describing the GDPR from the point of view of: what does the law say? The other is looking at it from the point of view of: I only have to follow my country’s laws. The latter is closer to correct in some technical sense; laws have finite jurisdictions. But the EU has a big market and so lots of entities play ball with them, to some extent, in general, so it is probably better for most people to comply.
ArnoVW 2y ago
I think the idea is that the GDPR requires that companies allow users to delete or correct data about them. And the GDPR scope is determined by the user, not the company. You can have your company based on the far side of the moon, with 99.99% of your users based on mars. For that one user that is living in Europe (note : living, not nationality) the GDPR applies. Mind you, I'm not sure that the GDPR says that you can't charge for that. As long as you can justify that the amount is in relation to your expenses, my bet would be that a judge will allow it.
tiagod 2y ago
If they only sold their products in Switzerland, sure. But once they operate in EU countries, they must respect EU laws (for those costumers, at least).
Scarblac 2y ago
Switzerland is part of the EU Internal Market through the EEA though and therefore has to implement many laws like this. It just doesn't have a say in them.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  Switzerland's a bit of an oddity; it's actually not in the EEA, but in EFTA. It's not subject to the ECJ, but to EFTA Court (which is definitely not the ECJ wearing false moustaches). And it's not subject to the GDPR, but it has a law aligned to the GDPR. EDIT: No, I'm wrong; while EFTA Court used to be based in Switzerland, Switzerland is no longer subject to it. It still exists, but only for EFTA members who are also EEA members. This whole thing is impossible to keep track of.
  - vidarh 2y ago
    Wikipedia has this handy diagram of European supranational bodies for those who wish to suffer additional confusion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Supranational_European_Bodies-en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Supranational_European_Bo...
- vidarh 2y ago
  Switzerland isn't in the EEA either as they rejected EEA membership in a vote in '92. Instead they have a weird patchwork of bilateral treaties that are designed to look pretty much like EEA membership if you squint just right, and look like just bilateral treaties in separate areas if you squint a bit differently. They're linked, and at least the first seven have a "guillotine clause" so they all cease to apply if one of them is canceled, so in practice Switzerland is practically like an EEA member, but they get to pretend it's all very different. There are some clear differences, though, and there have been years of negotiations trying to reduce them without success.
  - Longhanks 2y ago
    I don't know what point you are trying to make with your snark, but bilateral treaties are much easier to alter or cancel if one party so desires, and public opinion in Switzerland is that they were definitely the right choice and the way to go forward. They are actively being negotiated.

Mashimo 2y ago

Should not matter, if they target EU customers. They also have the EU cookie banner.

WA 2y ago
A bad one after all. There is no way to deny.

dannyw 2y ago

If you offer something to EU residents, you have to comply with GDPR. Even if you are not part of the EU.

greatpatton 2y ago
No if you operate in the EU you have to comply that's it. If you buy something from Joe the farmer in PA, you are the one importing it (you are paying the custom duties) and Joe the farmer doesn't have to comply with anything related to GDPR. If Joe the farmer wants to sell directly its product in the EU (not from the US) then he has to comply.
bee_rider 2y ago
You can break a country’s laws depending on whether or not you are ever going to go to that country, or what treaties your country has signed which might cause it to enforce other countries’ laws. These GDPR conversations tend to pointlessly go back and forth on this because one side is describing the GDPR from the point of view of: what does the law say? The other is looking at it from the point of view of: I only have to follow my country’s laws. The latter is closer to correct in some technical sense; laws have finite jurisdictions. But the EU has a big market and so lots of entities play ball with them, to some extent, in general, so it is probably better for most people to comply.

ArnoVW 2y ago

I think the idea is that the GDPR requires that companies allow users to delete or correct data about them. And the GDPR scope is determined by the user, not the company. You can have your company based on the far side of the moon, with 99.99% of your users based on mars. For that one user that is living in Europe (note : living, not nationality) the GDPR applies. Mind you, I'm not sure that the GDPR says that you can't charge for that. As long as you can justify that the amount is in relation to your expenses, my bet would be that a judge will allow it.

tiagod 2y ago

If they only sold their products in Switzerland, sure. But once they operate in EU countries, they must respect EU laws (for those costumers, at least).

Scarblac 2y ago

Switzerland is part of the EU Internal Market through the EEA though and therefore has to implement many laws like this. It just doesn't have a say in them.

rsynnott 2y ago
Switzerland's a bit of an oddity; it's actually not in the EEA, but in EFTA. It's not subject to the ECJ, but to EFTA Court (which is definitely not the ECJ wearing false moustaches). And it's not subject to the GDPR, but it has a law aligned to the GDPR. EDIT: No, I'm wrong; while EFTA Court used to be based in Switzerland, Switzerland is no longer subject to it. It still exists, but only for EFTA members who are also EEA members. This whole thing is impossible to keep track of.
- vidarh 2y ago
  Wikipedia has this handy diagram of European supranational bodies for those who wish to suffer additional confusion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Supranational_European_Bodies-en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Supranational_European_Bo...
vidarh 2y ago
Switzerland isn't in the EEA either as they rejected EEA membership in a vote in '92. Instead they have a weird patchwork of bilateral treaties that are designed to look pretty much like EEA membership if you squint just right, and look like just bilateral treaties in separate areas if you squint a bit differently. They're linked, and at least the first seven have a "guillotine clause" so they all cease to apply if one of them is canceled, so in practice Switzerland is practically like an EEA member, but they get to pretend it's all very different. There are some clear differences, though, and there have been years of negotiations trying to reduce them without success.
- Longhanks 2y ago
  I don't know what point you are trying to make with your snark, but bilateral treaties are much easier to alter or cancel if one party so desires, and public opinion in Switzerland is that they were definitely the right choice and the way to go forward. They are actively being negotiated.