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Comment by rgbrenner | Hacker News Reader

But then they might have data on you in their logs.. and may need to service removal requests (even if its just to say they dont have anything). So that would just open a can of worms.

The Chicago Tribute is a small paper in chicago. They've lost zero reputation here.. since their user base is in chicago.

Be honest: how much information about Chicago do you want to read? This article isn't even theirs -- it's syndicated from Bloomberg. Go click on their homepage.. you want to read about the local protest? Or the restaurant downtown? Are you interested in the list of great ice cream places in Chicago? Are you ever going to pay them for a subscription?

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>The Chicago Tribute is a small paper in chicago.

The Tribune is the top newspaper in Chicago (the third-largest US city) and the eighth-largest paper in the country by circulation - about the same as the Washington Post. It may not have the journalistic reputation of the Post or the New York Times, but it's certainly a major national newspaper.

It was, once. "The World's Greatest Newspaper", the Tribune once boasted. Now, the company is called "Tronc", Tribune Tower has been sold to be converted to condos, the radio and TV stations have been sold, and the LA Times and some other papers have been sold to a biotech billionare in China.

Wasn’t the whole point of the internet that geographical distance no longer matters?

What if you’re travelling to Chicago and want to know where to get the best blueberry ice cream? What if you’re just a Chicagophile?

There must be a non-infinite-large-numnerid reasons why it would be a good idea for a foreign national to access the local papers website.

> Wasn’t the whole point of the internet that geographical distance no longer matters?

Yup, the EU needs to understand that.

It does, that's why the GDPR applies globally ;)

> But then they might have data on you in their logs

If that's the case, then they already have data on my on their logs...

GDPR only applies to foreign companies targeting the EU. There's no way to misconstrue an outright block as targeting the EU. So it doesn't matter if your data is in their logs -- it doesn't apply to them.

On the other hand.. doing as you suggest -- a special text only version for the EU... that's definitely targeting the EU. Not only did they serve up the data to an EU user, but they took the time and effort to craft a special EU version of their website. The GDPR 100% applies to them in that case, and they definitely need to understand the law, handle removal requests, etc.

You suggest they avoid the GDPR by making themselves subject to the GDPR. That's nonsensical. They're doing exactly what the GDPR says they need to do to avoid being subject to it's legal requirements--blocking you.

> GDPR only applies to foreign companies targeting the EU.

Why do you believe this?

From the text:

> This Regulation 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: [...] the offering of goods or services, irrespective of whether a payment of the data subject is required, to such data subjects in the Union [0]

There is no targeting required - it is enough that EU "citizens" consume a service.

[0] https://gdpr-info.eu/art-3-gdpr/

See recital 23: https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-23/

But recital 24 is an important caveat.. and the reason why you see EU blocks.

But an EU citizen accessing or ordering from a foreign website does not automatically mean the GDPR applies.

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