[zeth___]

A lot of the US over reaction to the GDPR probably stems from the fact that they assume that Europe has a system where parties sue each other, the jury system, as opposed to the state suing parties, the inquisitorial system.

Getting sued in Europe is a huge deal, getting sued in the US is part of doing business.

[derReineke]

Yeah from what I have heard the main reason for this law is to stop obvious abuses to people's privacy. It seems that most overreactions are due to ignorance of the system behind the law or to make some kind of political statement.

[chx]

As a proponent of North American small businesses to just stop doing business with the EU my motivation doesn't stem from the ignorance of the system rather the knowledge if it: the fines will be issued by the relevant authorities of each and every EU state according to their own interpretation. Certain countries might see this as a neat little cash grab opportunity.

[derReineke]

I just don't see the EU giving fines to American small businesses. What kind of money could they expect to get out of them? I'm curious though, what EU countries do you think are so desperate for money that they would basically extort American small businesses?

[chx]

Hungary for sure! (I'm a dual Canadian-Hungarian citizen.)

[zeth___]

This is exactly what I mean. Europe has functioning government that can't be fathomed on the other side of the Atlantic.

[wooter]

seriously? spain, italy, and greece don't have malfunctioning governments?

[zeth___]

They still provide better service for their citizens than say New York or California.

[wooter]

not even remotely close to true.

[geocar]

Incorporating in the UK is a great way to stop this.

The ICO is extremely reasonable and personable in my experience.

[chx]

Ever heard of Brexit?

[geocar]

If Brexit has any impact (which is unlikely, but admittedly still unclear[1], [2]), incorporating again in Ireland or France is very easy and has similarly-minded regulators.

[1]: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7...

[2]: https://www.ft.com/content/afff45a0-1597-3f1c-a6da-79c3f61e6...

[LamaOfRuin]

I'm in favor of GDPR, but this is how it can be trivially used to target non-EU companies. EU regulators can be pressured to more aggressively pursue dominant foreign companies (or lay off important domestic companies) which many people already believe they do in various industries (banking/finance especially, as well as tech, automotive, aerospace, pharma...).