Whois vs GDPR, latest news

Sat May 26 08:31:29 UTC 2018

> On 23 May 2018, at 19:12, Anne P. Mitchell Esq. <amitchell at isipp.com> wrote:
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> 
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>> On May 23, 2018, at 11:05 AM, K. Scott Helms <kscotthelms at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Yep, if you're doing a decent job around securing data then you don't have much to be worried about on that side of things.  The problem for most companies is that GDPR isn't really a security law, it's a privacy law (and set of regulations).  That's where it's hard because there are a limited number of ways you can, from the EU's standpoint, lawfully process someone's PII.  Things like opting out and blanket agreements to use all of someone's data for any reason a company may want are specifically prohibited.  Even companies that don't intentionally sell into the EU (or the UK) can find themselves dealing with this if they have customers with employees in the EU. 
> 
> Or if someone who is a U.S. citizen and resident goes to the org's U.S.-based website and orders something (or even just provides their PII)... but happens to be in a plane flying over an EU country at the time.  Because GDPR doesn't talk about residence or citizenship, it talks only about a vague and ambiguous "in the Union", and I can certainly envision an argument in which the person in the plane claims that they were, technically, "in the Union" at the time. 
> 

Actually, the EU Commission is pretty clear about the non-E.U. person travelling to E.U. and using a service not specifically targetting E.U. users :

"When the regulation does not apply
Your company is service provider based outside the EU. It provides services to customers outside the EU.  Its clients can use its services when they travel to other countries, including within the EU. Provided your company  doesn't specifically target its services at individuals in the EU, it is not subject to the rules of the GDPR.”

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/application-regulation/who-does-data-protection-law-apply_en

There are many other examples on their website which leave pretty little doubts about when it applies and when it does not.

Regards, Michel