A US online retailer has no office or staff in the EU, but it runs…

Question

A US online retailer has no office or staff in the EU, but it runs German-language ads, shows prices in euros, and ships to German addresses. How should territorial scope under the GDPR be analysed?

Accepted Answer

Offering goods or services to data subjects in the Union can bring the non-EU controller into scope under the targeting criterion of Article 3. — Picture a shop that never rents space in Berlin but still puts up German signs, euro price tags, and local delivery. Under the GDPR, that kind of deliberate outreach can pull a non-EU seller into scope even without an EU office. Location of the HQ alone does not write the whole story.

Answer

GDPR never applies to controllers established only in the United States, regardless of marketing cues.

Answer

Only the German Unfair Competition Act applies; the GDPR is limited to EU-incorporated companies.

Answer

Territorial scope attaches solely when servers physically sit inside the EEA.

A US online retailer has no office or staff in the EU, but it runs German-language ads, shows prices in euros, and ships to German addresses. How should territorial scope under the GDPR be analysed?

Short Explanation

Full Explanation