A U.S. company’s website sells widgets. Which of the following factors would NOT in itself subject the company to the GDPR?

ccording to the GDPR, the regulation applies to the processing of personal data in the context of the

activities of an establishment of a controller or a processor in the Union, regardless of whether the

processing takes place in the Union or not1. The GDPR also 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: (a) 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 (b) the

monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the Union1.

In this scenario, a U.S. company’s website sells widgets to customers in the EU and places cookies to

monitor their behavior. These factors would subject the company to the GDPR, as they indicate that

the company is offering goods or services and monitoring the behavior of data subjects in the

Union2. However, the fact that the website is in English and French, and is accessible in France,

would not in itself subject the company to the GDPR, as these factors do not necessarily imply an

intention to target customers in the Union3. The language and accessibility of the website are not

sufficient to establish a relevant and sufficient degree of stability and continuity of the company’s

activities in the Union3. Therefore, the correct answer is B.

Reference:

Art. 3 GDPR – Territorial scope

Guidelines 3/2018 on the territorial scope of the GDPR (Article 3)

What does territorial scope mean under the GDPR?

I hope this helps you understand the GDPR and territorial scope better. If you have any other

questions, please feel free to ask me.