GDPR Question

I'm not quite sure what the EU GDPR rule is and how it affects us here at eBid USA. It would be helpful if someone from eBid would explain it to us or me. Frankly, from what I've been able to ascertain, the EU people that made the rule are not completely sure of how it is going to work. I thought that being in the UK and more familiar with the EU, someone at eBid would be more knowledgeable on the subject.

For example: Are we now required to post our businesses physical location as I once was under my state's auction laws? If so, is it sufficient to put it in the about me page or does it need to be included in every listing?

As you're on Facebook, suggest you join this GDPR group run by a UK Data Information lawyer: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GDPRandyou/
and ask your above question there.

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Originally Posted by JaBek1

I'm not quite sure what the EU GDPR rule is and how it affects us here at eBid USA. It would be helpful if someone from eBid would explain it to us or me. Frankly, from what I've been able to ascertain, the EU people that made the rule are not completely sure of how it is going to work. I thought that being in the UK and more familiar with the EU, someone at eBid would be more knowledgeable on the subject.

For example: Are we now required to post our businesses physical location as I once was under my state's auction laws? If so, is it sufficient to put it in the about me page or does it need to be included in every listing?

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​I've tried to get around this by putting a new privacy policy on my about me page which says people can contact me by using the details they will find at the bottom of their purchase transaction. I hope this will be enough to be covered.

I added a post to the other thread started by JaBek with details of the various responses, or not, I've encountered so far.

RE. the physical location of businesses. On a thread on that other site two business sellers were consoling each other as they had both closed their shops on a third platform beginning with "E" because they were not willing to add their home addresses, for all to see, to their shops.

Confusion everywhere it seems.

[QUOTE=Anniemcc2;1700465]As you're on Facebook, suggest you join this GDPR group run by a UK Data Information lawyer: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GDPRandyou/
and ask your above question there.[/QUOT

I'll probably check that out, but quite frankly, I'm more than a tad bit skeptical about what I see posted on Facebook.

Well I'm not sure if that would be sufficient, Becky. When I was still actively engaged in operating my auction business, I was required to have my physical address posted along with my license numbers. However, since I've retired from acting as an agent for people selling their items at auction, I'm not required to be licensed as such. Since there is no special AU or AB licensing required here to sell your own goods at auction, I removed that information from my about me page. Of course, if need be I can add the physical address back in.

I'm not particularly concerned about it since the business address is a matter of public record anyway.

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Originally Posted by JaBek1

Well I'm not sure if that would be sufficient, Becky. When I was still actively engaged in operating my auction business, I was required to have my physical address posted along with my license numbers. However, since I've retired from acting as an agent for people selling their items at auction, I'm not required to be licensed as such. Since there is no special AU or AB licensing required here to sell your own goods at auction, I removed that information from my about me page. Of course, if need be I can add the physical address back in.

I'm not particularly concerned about it since the business address is a matter of public record anyway.

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Well as a sole trader and not having a business premises I wouldn't really want to publish my home address for all to see, I would consider that as an invasion of my privacy. I would also think this rather dangerous especially if you are someone that sells high end items as it would be an invitation for burglary. As yet, thankfully, I've had no instruction that this is required.

Of course my genuine customers get my address details, which is fine, but having to display my home address for all and sundry to see would make me think twice about carrying on selling online.

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Originally Posted by cornishmaid1961

Well as a sole trader and not having a business premises I wouldn't really want to publish my home address for all to see, I would consider that as an invasion of my privacy. I would also think this rather dangerous especially if you are someone that sells high end items as it would be an invitation for burglary. As yet, thankfully, I've had no instruction that this is required.

Of course my genuine customers get my address details, which is fine, but having to display my home address for all and sundry to see would make me think twice about carrying on selling online.

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Unfortunately it appears every business seller on Ebid is breaking the law. Under the Online and Distance Selling regulations it states "Before an order is placed You must provide: your business name, contact details and address." Plus a lot of other things. See here for further details: https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distan...for-businesses. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.

It might be a good idea if this thread and the GDPR thread in @Kitchen were merged.

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Originally Posted by liquidliterature

Unfortunately it appears every business seller on Ebid is breaking the law. Under the Online and Distance Selling regulations it states "Before an order is placed You must provide: your business name, contact details and address." Plus a lot of other things. See here for further details: https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distan...for-businesses. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.

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Yes I already knew that, however eBid have never requested this. eBid display their own address and it could well be argued that purchasers do get the seller's address before they have to pay and complete a transaction. So in my own opinion no law is broken, an order isn't complete until it's payed for.

I agree eBid do not request an address to be displayed, I found this strange as on the other side if you are a business seller your details appear on every listing though it can be hard to find. They say this is because of the Distance Selling Regulations. It appears either they or eBid are wrong.

You say "So in my own opinion no law is broken, an order isn't complete until it's payed for." The regulation says the details must be provided BEFORE an order is even placed not when it is paid for. You may be correct that the eBid address fulfils the requirement, but I have my doubts. Perhaps eBid can get their legal bods to look into this

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Originally Posted by liquidliterature

I agree eBid do not request an address to be displayed, I found this strange as on the other side if you are a business seller your details appear on every listing though it can be hard to find. They say this is because of the Distance Selling Regulations. It appears either they or eBid are wrong.

You say "So in my own opinion no law is broken, an order isn't complete until it's payed for." The regulation says the details must be provided BEFORE an order is even placed not when it is paid for. You may be correct that the eBid address fulfils the requirement, but I have my doubts. Perhaps eBid can get their legal bods to look into this

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you need to udate what your telling people, there is no such thing as distance selling regulations they were superseded in 2014 = The Consumer Contracts Regulations

the key points listed below, its of note that key information that you must supply the customer is not stated before a contract is made, ebid provide the key information as in sellers details when the contract is started which complies with the law and how it was amended in 2015

Information you should expect

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 require traders to give you certain information.
The Regulations came into force on 13 June 2014 and apply to contracts entered into on or after that date.
If you entered into a contract prior to 13 June 2014, these Regulations will not apply. Please see our guide to the Distance Selling Regulations which cover the period before 13 June 2014.
The specific information varies depending on whether the sale is made at a distance (for example, online or over the phone) or face-to-face somewhere that's not the business premises of the trader (also known as 'off-premises') or in a store.
For distance or off-premises sales Key information which the trader must provide includes:

• a description of the goods, service or digital content, including how long any commitment will last on the part of the consumer
• the total price of the goods, service or digital service or the manner in which the price will be calculated if this can’t be determined
• how you will pay for the goods or services and when they will be provided to you
• all additional delivery charges and other costs (and if these charges can't be calculated in advance, the fact that they may be payable)
• details of who pays for the cost of returning items if you have a right to cancel and change your mind
• details of any right to cancel - the trader also needs to provide, or make available, a standard cancellation form to make cancelling easy (although you aren’t under any obligation to use it)
• information about the seller, including their geographical address and contact details and the address and identity of any other trader for whom the trader is acting
• information on the compatibility of digital content with hardware and other software that the trader is aware of (or can reasonably be expected to be aware of).

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

you need to udate what your telling people, there is no such thing as distance selling regulations they were superseded in 2014 = The Consumer Contracts Regulations

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Thank you for pointing this out, I stand corrected and apologise for the misleading information I gave.

I have just gone back to the page where I got the information from and it appears to be up to date. It is information provided by the Government for businesses concerning Distance and Online Selling and does not refer to any particular Act. Unfortunately the page isn’t dated. It can be found here

https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distan...for-businesses

It also says “These rules don’t apply to: goods and services worth £42 or less.” If this is correct the millions of online sales aren’t covered which I find odd.

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

the key points listed below, its of note that key information that you must supply the customer is not stated before a contract is made, ebid provide the key information as in sellers details when the contract is started which complies with the law and how it was amended in 2015

Information you should expect

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 require traders to give you certain information.
The Regulations came into force on 13 June 2014 and apply to contracts entered into on or after that date.
If you entered into a contract prior to 13 June 2014, these Regulations will not apply. Please see our guide to the Distance Selling Regulations which cover the period before 13 June 2014.
The specific information varies depending on whether the sale is made at a distance (for example, online or over the phone) or face-to-face somewhere that's not the business premises of the trader (also known as 'off-premises') or in a store.
For distance or off-premises sales Key information which the trader must provide includes:

• a description of the goods, service or digital content, including how long any commitment will last on the part of the consumer
• the total price of the goods, service or digital service or the manner in which the price will be calculated if this can’t be determined
• how you will pay for the goods or services and when they will be provided to you
• all additional delivery charges and other costs (and if these charges can't be calculated in advance, the fact that they may be payable)
• details of who pays for the cost of returning items if you have a right to cancel and change your mind
• details of any right to cancel - the trader also needs to provide, or make available, a standard cancellation form to make cancelling easy (although you aren’t under any obligation to use it)
• information about the seller, including their geographical address and contact details and the address and identity of any other trader for whom the trader is acting
• information on the compatibility of digital content with hardware and other software that the trader is aware of (or can reasonably be expected to be aware of).

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Information to be provided before making an off-premises contract

10.—(1) Before the consumer is bound by an off-premises contract, the trader—

(a)must give the consumer the information listed in Schedule 2 in a clear and comprehensible manner,

and this appears in Schedule 2:

(c)the geographical address at which the trader is established and, where available, the trader’s telephone number, fax number and e-mail address, to enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and communicate efficiently;

The above is from the original Act and I haven’t been able to find out if it has been amended. I am not sure if the information provided by eBid when the contract is started covers this.

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Originally Posted by liquidliterature

Information to be provided before making an off-premises contract

10.—(1) Before the consumer is bound by an off-premises contract, the trader—

(a)must give the consumer the information listed in Schedule 2 in a clear and comprehensible manner,

and this appears in Schedule 2:

(c)the geographical address at which the trader is established and, where available, the trader’s telephone number, fax number and e-mail address, to enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and communicate efficiently;

The above is from the original Act and I haven’t been able to find out if it has been amended. I am not sure if the information provided by eBid when the contract is started covers this.

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you really dont get it do you the distance selling regulations have been superseded, what do you mean original act ? the distance selling regulations ? they dont exist anymore despite what the government website tells people,

a contract does not start because some one hits a buy it now button, they have not paid , i as a seller have no obligation to fulfill a button being pressed till im paid,

ebid are wrong but not for the reasons you state, they provide my physical address /contact details before a payment is received , i have no duty to process a order that has not been paid for, its a big assumption that if some one hits a buy it now button they will follow through with a payment,

the consumer contract act clearly states
4.“trader” means a person acting for purposes relating to that person’s trade, business, craft or profession, whether acting personally or through another person acting in the trader’s name or on the trader’s behalf.

so anyone selling on line selling there personal goods as a hobby seller are not defined by the act .
schedule 2

(c)

the geographical address at which the trader is established and, where available, the trader’s telephone number, fax number and e-mail address, to enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and communicate efficiently;

12.—(1) In the case of an off-premises contract, the trader must give the consumer—

(a)

a copy of the signed contract, or

(b)

confirmation of the contract.
(2) The confirmation must include all the information referred to in Schedule 2 unless the trader has already provided that information to the consumer on a durable medium prior to the conclusion of the off-premises contract.
so were back to the old chestnut of conclusion of the contract, a payment does not mean a conclusion of a contract , a payment from a business sellers point of view, is the start of the contract at any point after that payment section 12 kicks in were the consumer is legally entitled to the information in schedule 2 , section 12 (2) confirmation , were as it states the information may have already been provided it HAS to be provided when the contract starts, the contract does not start till the payment is received, so for the purpose of sellers on ebid providing there address this HAS to be provided after the payment the act says it can be provided before , but must legally be provided after the contract starts,

the act also states you must clearly show a buy it now button and explain in your listing or TCs as such that when using the buy now button the consumer enters a legal contract, which means they are not legally bound till doing so, nor is the seller, this does not effect the consumers right to cancel within 14 days without reason if they wish to do so.

All this about the Distance Selling Rules being superseded by the Consumer Contract Act is very interesting, Sid. However, how does it relate to this New EU GDPR rule?

While I'm not sure about how UK law treats auctions, most states over here consider the placing of a bid on an item being sold at auction as entering into a contract to purchase the item at the amount of the bid if it is the winning bid. The laws governing auctions, at least over here, are not the same as other consumer protection laws which deal with regular retail sales agreements. But as I said, I'm not familiar with the laws governing auctions over there in the UK.

Of course, the way I understand the consumer protection laws over here, there is a distinction if sales transaction is entered into at the buyer's location (salesman comes to the buyer's home) or it is entered into at the merchants place of business. However, I've always been under the impression that transactions initiated by the buyer through visiting the merchants web site or one that is initiated by the buyer placing an order through a mail order firm, is considered to be the same as the buyer visiting the merchants place of business. The reason being that they have initiated the transaction themselves. Again, I have no idea of how such things are handled under UK or even EU law.

Of course, it would be nice if eBid management could give a bit of guidance regarding this GDPR thing.

I know that the subject of my having my physical address and license numbers on my About Me page in compliance with laws over here, however, if the GDPR rule requires it I'm perfectly willing to add the required information again. It would, as I've mentioned, be nice for the folks in eBid's tower to give us a little guidance regarding this issue. Don't you agree?

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

you really dont get it do you the distance selling regulations have been superseded, what do you mean original act ? the distance selling regulations ? they dont exist anymore despite what the government website tells people,

a contract does not start because some one hits a buy it now button, they have not paid , i as a seller have no obligation to fulfill a button being pressed till im paid,

ebid are wrong but not for the reasons you state, they provide my physical address /contact details before a payment is received , i have no duty to process a order that has not been paid for, its a big assumption that if some one hits a buy it now button they will follow through with a payment,

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I wasn't referring to a Distance Selling Regulations I was referring to details on Distance Selling on an official Government web site and as I said the details appear to be current but cannot be sure. If you disagree with the information on that page, perhaps you should advise the Government they are wrong.

By the original Act: I was referring to the full details of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 found on the Government Archives web site. There weren’t any details of any later amendments.

The regulations state "Information to be provided before making an off-premises contract" and "Before the consumer is bound by an off-premises contract, the trader". I find this contradictory. To me the first part means that the information has to be available as soon as an item is listed for sale. The second part suggests that it can be provided when contact begins between seller and customer. Note I have said contact not contract! These comments are not intended to be specifically about eBid sales.

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

the consumer contract act clearly states
4.“trader” means a person acting for purposes relating to that person’s trade, business, craft or profession, whether acting personally or through another person acting in the trader’s name or on the trader’s behalf.

so anyone selling on line selling there personal goods as a hobby seller are not defined by the act .
schedule 2

(c)

the geographical address at which the trader is established and, where available, the trader’s telephone number, fax number and e-mail address, to enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and communicate efficiently;

12.—(1) In the case of an off-premises contract, the trader must give the consumer—

(a)

a copy of the signed contract, or

(b)

confirmation of the contract.
(2) The confirmation must include all the information referred to in Schedule 2 unless the trader has already provided that information to the consumer on a durable medium prior to the conclusion of the off-premises contract.
so were back to the old chestnut of conclusion of the contract, a payment does not mean a conclusion of a contract , a payment from a business sellers point of view, is the start of the contract at any point after that payment section 12 kicks in were the consumer is legally entitled to the information in schedule 2 , section 12 (2) confirmation , were as it states the information may have already been provided it HAS to be provided when the contract starts, the contract does not start till the payment is received, so for the purpose of sellers on ebid providing there address this HAS to be provided after the payment the act says it can be provided before , but must legally be provided after the contract starts,

the act also states you must clearly show a buy it now button and explain in your listing or TCs as such that when using the buy now button the consumer enters a legal contract, which means they are not legally bound till doing so, nor is the seller, this does not effect the consumers right to cancel within 14 days without reason if they wish to do so.

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I am aware that this only applies to sellers registered as a business, would have thought you would have realised that. Don't see how section 12 is relevant to when the information such as address has to be given.

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Originally Posted by JaBek1

All this about the Distance Selling Rules being superseded by the Consumer Contract Act is very interesting, Sid. However, how does it relate to this New EU GDPR rule?

While I'm not sure about how UK law treats auctions, most states over here consider the placing of a bid on an item being sold at auction as entering into a contract to purchase the item at the amount of the bid if it is the winning bid. The laws governing auctions, at least over here, are not the same as other consumer protection laws which deal with regular retail sales agreements. But as I said, I'm not familiar with the laws governing auctions over there in the UK.

Of course, the way I understand the consumer protection laws over here, there is a distinction if sales transaction is entered into at the buyer's location (salesman comes to the buyer's home) or it is entered into at the merchants place of business. However, I've always been under the impression that transactions initiated by the buyer through visiting the merchants web site or one that is initiated by the buyer placing an order through a mail order firm, is considered to be the same as the buyer visiting the merchants place of business. The reason being that they have initiated the transaction themselves. Again, I have no idea of how such things are handled under UK or even EU law.

Of course, it would be nice if eBid management could give a bit of guidance regarding this GDPR thing.

I know that the subject of my having my physical address and license numbers on my About Me page in compliance with laws over here, however, if the GDPR rule requires it I'm perfectly willing to add the required information again. It would, as I've mentioned, be nice for the folks in eBid's tower to give us a little guidance regarding this issue. Don't you agree?

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GDPR rules are not what i was answering too, and is a completely different subject,

as far as ebid is concerned and its sellers = buy it now button or completion of a auction it needs to be stated that any information gathered by the seller when a contract is made gives to seller authority to use the data to process the order only, you can not use this data or store it without permission of the consumer, in other words you cant spam, store, sell, this information and must delete this information after the contract is fulfilled, how this pans out in regards to guarantees ect , i dont know,

several companies i deal with have asked me just prior to gpdr if i give consent to them to store my information i have responded no and yes, it depends if it was a one off or i would still trade with them,

basically if your caught storing ,selling, spamming information without permission youl face a hefty fine , it applies world wide any one trading withing the eu say from usa,

it has nothing to do with sellers displaying there contact information,

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Originally Posted by liquidliterature

I am aware that this only applies to sellers registered as a business, would have thought you would have realised that. Don't see how section 12 is relevant to when the information such as address has to be given.

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its a shame then that you did not make that clear in your previous posts, its also a shame you stomp around on the forum giving out of date information , and had clearly no idea about consumer contract act, it's also a shame interpretation, contradictions, in acts are not your strong point.

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

its a shame then that you did not make that clear in your previous posts, its also a shame you stomp around on the forum giving out of date information , and had clearly no idea about consumer contract act, it's also a shame interpretation, contradictions, in acts are not your strong point.

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Thank you for your kind words. I will cease stomping around the forums.

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

GDPR rules are not what i was answering too, and is a completely different subject,

as far as ebid is concerned and its sellers = buy it now button or completion of a auction it needs to be stated that any information gathered by the seller when a contract is made gives to seller authority to use the data to process the order only, you can not use this data or store it without permission of the consumer, in other words you cant spam, store, sell, this information and must delete this information after the contract is fulfilled, how this pans out in regards to guarantees ect , i dont know,

several companies i deal with have asked me just prior to gpdr if i give consent to them to store my information i have responded no and yes, it depends if it was a one off or i would still trade with them,

basically if your caught storing ,selling, spamming information without permission youl face a hefty fine , it applies world wide any one trading withing the eu say from usa,

it has nothing to do with sellers displaying there contact information,

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Since the topic of the thread was about the GPDR I was wondering about why you were talking about the other things, Sid, but I do think that it is quite appropriate for them to be mentioned in this thread.

While I'm not sure if the EU has the power to fine individuals not members of the EU, I suppose that they do have the power to prohibit them from conducting business within the European Union. However, my understanding is that the physical address of the seller's business, be made available upfront as a form of transparency. Of course, I've always marveled at the distinction made between businesses and private sellers.

While I can certainly understand the need for not wanting the sale of information collected and spamming, there are some records that are required to be kept by various government agencies for the purpose of accounting for income and expense in regard to taxes that must be stored. It would appear that any rule by the EU which would make that impossible, such as buyers being able to demand their deletion, would be in conflict with such other lawful requirements.

Personally, I think many businesses collect too much data on their customers that is not directly related to the transaction or any requirement for accounting purposes. Much of the problem, in my opinion, is that we've become a society that depends entirely too much on analytics to do our thinking for us. I suppose it is a matter of becoming too lazy to think for ourselves. Ah, but that is another topic for another day.

Of course, I'm curious as to how the EU governing body can make rules effecting those that are not members of their organization and enforce them. While admittedly not well up on the European Union and their political organization, I don't see how they can dictate such things. The most I can see them having the power to do is to bar people that don't abide by their rules from doing business within their jurisdiction.

Oh! I should mention, that I've found it useful over the years to keep track certain buyer information permanently in order to maintain the the provenance of particular items, such as, pieces of art and/or antiques and collectibles. This consists of basically the name of the buyer, source and cost of the item which they purchased, and the price they paid for the item when they bought it. This information has been valuable in maintaining the provenance of such items and would continue to be so long into the future. It has been and continues to be helpful to the buyers and their heirs that later need it.

Of course, this information is not given out to just anyone without a legitimate reason for needing it. The practice has already proved useful in the identification of stolen property and its return to its rightful owner and in valuing items by heirs.

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Originally Posted by JaBek1

Since the topic of the thread was about the GPDR I was wondering about why you were talking about the other things, Sid, but I do think that it is quite appropriate for them to be mentioned in this thread.

While I'm not sure if the EU has the power to fine individuals not members of the EU, I suppose that they do have the power to prohibit them from conducting business within the European Union. However, my understanding is that the physical address of the seller's business, be made available upfront as a form of transparency. Of course, I've always marveled at the distinction made between businesses and private sellers.

While I can certainly understand the need for not wanting the sale of information collected and spamming, there are some records that are required to be kept by various government agencies for the purpose of accounting for income and expense in regard to taxes that must be stored. It would appear that any rule by the EU which would make that impossible, such as buyers being able to demand their deletion, would be in conflict with such other lawful requirements.

Personally, I think many businesses collect too much data on their customers that is not directly related to the transaction or any requirement for accounting purposes. Much of the problem, in my opinion, is that we've become a society that depends entirely too much on analytics to do our thinking for us. I suppose it is a matter of becoming too lazy to think for ourselves. Ah, but that is another topic for another day.

Of course, I'm curious as to how the EU governing body can make rules effecting those that are not members of their organization and enforce them. While admittedly not well up on the European Union and their political organization, I don't see how they can dictate such things. The most I can see them having the power to do is to bar people that don't abide by their rules from doing business within their jurisdiction.

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All this about the Distance Selling Rules being superseded by the Consumer Contract Act is very interesting, Sid. However, how does it relate to this New EU GDPR rule?"

"Since the topic of the thread was about the GPDR I was wondering about why you were talking about the other things, Sid, but I do think that it is quite appropriate for them to be mentioned in this thread."

so your first reply to me you had a problem how GDPR relates to this thread, then in your next post to me the relationship of GDPR is quite appropriate, without the context or the relationship changing. are you a bit slow on the uptake or just a tad obtrusive,

as for the rest of your "not sure" opinion suggest you google GDPR it takes 5 seconds to inform yourself of trading relationships with the eu from outside the eu with a smattering of international law, have fun.

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Originally Posted by sidthelamp

All this about the Distance Selling Rules being superseded by the Consumer Contract Act is very interesting, Sid. However, how does it relate to this New EU GDPR rule?"

"Since the topic of the thread was about the GPDR I was wondering about why you were talking about the other things, Sid, but I do think that it is quite appropriate for them to be mentioned in this thread."

so your first reply to me you had a problem how GDPR relates to this thread, then in your next post to me the relationship of GDPR is quite appropriate, without the context or the relationship changing. are you a bit slow on the uptake or just a tad obtrusive,

as for the rest of your "not sure" opinion suggest you google GDPR it takes 5 seconds to inform yourself of trading relationships with the eu from outside the eu with a smattering of international law, have fun.

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I wasn't aware that my first response regarding your comments about the Distance Selling Rules and the Consumer Contract Act being interesting was somehow contradictory to thinking that they were appropriate to the discussion about GPDR. Of course, you are free to take my opinions and comments anyway you like.

With regard to my opinions about the authority of the EU over the people of non-EU member countries, I'm not an attorney so I can make no hard and fast determination about the matter. However, since you mentioned "hefty fines" I merely mentioned my thoughts on the issue. While I know that GOOGLE is touted as the prime source of information in all matters great and small these days, I'm not convinced that all information found there is absolutely accurate. Of course, since reading and viewing media articles that seem to state that even the EU regulators are having trouble figuring the rule out, I'm still waiting for some definitive information to show itself.

I suppose that it is my being "...a bit slow on the uptake" or maybe it's my being "...a tad obtrusive" (or did you mean, obtuse) that causes me not to believe everything I see or read. After all, if it's on the Internet, in the paper or on the telly it must be true. Right?!

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Originally Posted by JaBek1

I wasn't aware that my first response regarding your comments about the Distance Selling Rules and the Consumer Contract Act being interesting was somehow contradictory to thinking that they were appropriate to the discussion about GPDR. Of course, you are free to take my opinions and comments anyway you like.

With regard to my opinions about the authority of the EU over the people of non-EU member countries, I'm not an attorney so I can make no hard and fast determination about the matter. However, since you mentioned "hefty fines" I merely mentioned my thoughts on the issue. While I know that GOOGLE is touted as the prime source of information in all matters great and small these days, I'm not convinced that all information found there is absolutely accurate. Of course, since reading and viewing media articles that seem to state that even the EU regulators are having trouble figuring the rule out, I'm still waiting for some definitive information to show itself.

I suppose that it is my being "...a bit slow on the uptake" or maybe it's my being "...a tad obtrusive" (or did you mean, obtuse) that causes me not to believe everything I see or read. After all, if it's on the Internet, in the paper or on the telly it must be true. Right?!

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I assume that the authority that the EU has over non-members of the EU is the same authority that the USA has to force others to impose the sanctions which the USA decides.

Perhaps, Tony. I suppose it matters if the one being pressured into doing something really cares. I'm not an overly political type so I probably don't keep up with international politics as much as I should. I realize that countries have certain agreements that cause them to go along with other countries policies even though they may not be what they would do if not for such agreements being in place.

Frankly, I'm not questioning the authority of the EU to enforce their rules on member countries and anyone wanting to do business with them. (Although I must admit, I'm not quite sure where the European Union fits into the definition of a country.) It would appear to me that the EU would only be able to dictate to its own members and anyone wanting to do business with them. I'm not sure how much actual authority over those not engaged in such a business agreement they would have.

Of course, the nature of the Internet being what it is, it would seem to be almost impossible to regulate who or from where a person could view something posted on it. Without a mutual agreement between all parties it would seem futile to try to legislate its use. Even with the agreement of all the members of the UN I doubt such legislation would work.

Naturally, the EU has the power to block those wishing to do business within the European Union or its member countries from legally doing so. It remains to be seen if they could do more than that.

Alas! I'm not trying to say that this rule they have come up with is not a good idea. I'm saying that they really needed to have it worked out in more detail and better publicized to its non-members if they wanted it implemented smoothly.