Does GDPR Apply to Everyone?
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) have been in force in the European Union for over a year now. And despite questions about how these rules will be enforced in Great Britain once their Brexit plan is implemented, it’s a sure bet that countries dealing with the EU members, any of them, and in any capacity, will be wise to know GDPR well and stay well within its parameters. Compliance with and understanding of GDPR is going to be crucial to companies large and small who not only have any dealings with the European Union directly, but also if they are dealing indirectly with the EU. The Regulations were put together by jurists, technicians, bureaucrats, and internet specialists to make sure their bite is worse than their bark. GDPR is able to levy substantial fines for infractions on the use and gathering of personal data, and has already shown it is not shy about crippling a company’s bottom line with punitive fees that run into the tens of millions of dollars.
There are very few loopholes in these Regulations; they even cover citizens of EU nations who are traveling or living in countries outside the EU. For instance a business traveler from France who is visiting the United States for a few weeks is still covered by all the Regulations while in America — it’s as if he or she never left France. Any infraction of the GDPR principles that occurs, say, in New York City, will be dealt with just as firmly as if it happened in Paris. Most medium to large sized companies have some information on EU members in their servers, and this information must be treated by GDPR standards at all times. Any deviation is liable to court action and sanctions.
Some companies don’t want to deal with the GDPR whatsoever, and so they’ve installed filters that block out all EU members from their databases. That’s the safest way to go for a company that wants to avoid any chance of being gouged with a huge fine for the smallest slip up. However, some companies are just increasing their compliance with with tools to sign documents online pdf.
