GDPR Compliance for US Companies (2026)

If you’re a US-based company that serves EU customers or tracks their behavior online, the GDPR likely applies to you. But the law is complex, rooted in a different legal system, and often overwhelming for American teams with limited resources. Missteps aren’t just risky—they’re expensive, with fines reaching up to 4% of annual global revenue.

This blog breaks down exactly how GDPR applies to US companies, outlines the key requirements, and provides guidance on how to stay compliant without draining your time, money, or sanity. Whether you’re just entering the EU market or scaling operations, this guide will help you navigate compliance with clarity and control.

What is GDPR compliance?

GDPR compliance is defined as the process of adhering to the General Data Protection Regulation, a privacy law from the EU. It governs how organizations collect, store, and process personal data of EU residents, ensuring transparency, consent, and data protection.It applies to any business—regardless of its location—that offers goods or services to EU citizens or monitors their online behavior. Failure to comply can result in significant fines, GDPR a critical standard for global data protection.

Does GDPR compliance apply to US companies?

Yes, GDPR compliance applies to US companies if the type of data processed involves tools that monitor the online behavior of EU residents, such as tracking IP addresses or cookies of website visitors.

GDPR requirements for US companies

If your US business targets EU residents or tracks their behavior online, GDPR compliance is not optional. Here are the five most critical requirements:

1. Lawful data processing
   You must have a clear legal basis, such as consent, a contract, or a legitimate interest, for collecting and using personal data.
2. User consent and transparency
   Consent must be explicit, informed, and revocable at any time. Your privacy policy should clearly explain data practices and user rights.
3. Data subject rights
   EU individuals can access, correct, delete, or transfer their data. You must respond to these requests within strict timelines.
4. Vendor management
   Any third-party vendors handling EU data must sign GDPR-compliant agreements and adhere to established security standards.

Breach notification
Data breaches must be reported to EU regulators within 72 hours and to affected users when the risk is high.

Also check out this video on GDPR principles:

How is GDPR carried out in the US? 

GDPR is enforced on US companies through its extraterritorial scope. Any business that collects or processes data of EU residents must comply, regardless of physical location. EU supervisory authorities have the power to investigate violations and issue fines, which can reach up to 4% of a company’s global annual revenue or 20 million euros.

To meet these obligations, US companies must appoint a representative within the EU, adopt privacy practices aligned with the GDPR, and ensure that their systems are built to handle data subject rights, breach notifications, and risk assessments. Demonstrating compliance through proper documentation and internal controls is key to staying audit-ready and avoiding penalties.

GDPR compliance checklist for US companies

These rules apply to US based organizations who wish to operate in EU countries:

Map your data

As discussed above, GDPR is applicable only if you process data of individuals protected under this framework. If you process such data, it is crucial to determine if it is related to goods or services offered to such individuals, even if it doesn’t involve financial transactions. 

An internal information audit should help you figure this out. As per recital 23 of GDPR, use the following questions to determine:

• Is it obvious that you offer the goods and services to data subjects in multiple states of the union?
• Do you use language or currency used in the Union to sell goods or services?

Internal audits should also help to gain better visibility into the categories of data, how it is processed, how it is transmitted, for how long it is stored, and more. 

Transparency

“It’s the intent that matters.” GDPR is not anti-data collection; it is anti-data theft. Processing personal data without the consent of the subject amounts to non-compliance. You can avoid legal complications by providing sufficient justifications for processing that include:

• You have the consent of the subject
• It is necessary to fulfill a contractual agreement with the subject or is required to fulfill a request by the subject before entering a contract. 
• It is part of a legal obligation the controller is subject to
• It protects the interest of the subject or another individual
• To perform a task in public interest or if the controller exercises official authoritative duties
• If the controller or third party has legitimate interests (unless it overrides the rights of the subject)

Member states of the Union can introduce more specific regulations on some of the justifications discussed above. 

If you collect data on the basis of consent, remember that consent must be:

• Freely given – you cannot force the data subject to provide consent. 
• Specific – all processing activities should be clearly listed to allow the subject to agree to each 
• Informed – the data subject should know your identity, your intention, and know their right to withdraw consent
• Unambiguous – avoid practices that intend to mislead the user into giving consent such as pre-ticked checkboxes or terms and conditions is small texts at the bottom of a page.  
• Revoked – data subjects can withdraw their consent at any time

Lastly, you must provide complete clarity about your activities as per Article 12. This requires you to keep your privacy policy updated. 

Risk assessment

If you deploy data on the cloud, it becomes vulnerable to a number of threats. As a data collector, you should prioritize mitigating information security and privacy risks. A good practice to ensure data integrity is by conducting a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). 

A common way to strengthen data security is end to end encryption. This method ensures that only those with authorized access can view it. 

Another recommended practice is to implement organizational safeguards. A combination of following security best practices and avoiding common mistakes helps to reduce the possibility of disasters. 

If you start a new project, follow data protection by design and default. This includes: 

• Use of security measures like pseudonymization, encryption, data minimization to process data. 
• Implement security measures to limit use of data to specific purposes in relation to the amount of data collected, storage period, accessibility, and extent of processing. 
• Proof of compliance with the aforementioned liabilities through GDPR certification. 

Vendor agreement

Malicious actors are not the only ones putting your customer data at risk. Statistics suggest that business partners like third party vendors also pose a non negligible risk. 

A data processing agreement minimizes the vendor risks. It is a legal contract with parties who have access to customer data. Ideally this should cover the following: 

• The process will process personal data only if a written instruction by the controller exists
• Anyone who accesses the data should agree to maintain confidentiality
• Use of appropriate measure to ensure data security
• The data processor cannot subcontract with other processors without a written instruction from the controller
• The processor will help the controller to abide by the GDPR obligations
• The controller must erase all personal data immediately upon termination of the contract
• The controller allows the process to conduct audit and provide help in doing so

Appoint a representative

Non EU organizations are required to appoint a representative in the union if Article 3 is applicable to them. The representative will be present in a member state of union in which the personal data of the subject is processed in relation to goods or services pr their behavior is monitored. 

The representative must be appointed without bias to legal actions against the controller or processor. They should cooperate with the legal authorities to ensure compliance with GDPR requirements for US companies.

Breach notification

No matter how strong your security posture is, there is no way to prevent 100% of breaches. Set up the infrastructure in a way that not just prevents, but also prepares for disasters. In case an infection occurs, two parties should be notified immediately – the competent authority and data subject. 

Ensure the following when notifying the supervisory authority: 

• Notify within 72 hours of the breach unless there is no chance of compromising rights and freedoms of the subject. 
• The notification should describe the nature of breach, number of subjects affected, and its categories. 
• It should contain the contact details of the DPA, the possible consequences of the breach, measures you have taken to address, and mitigate the damages. 
• Document the details of the breach, its effect and actions taken to mitigate the effects. 

Ensure the following while notifying the data subject

• Notify the affected individuals without delay in case of high risk of infringement of rights and freedom. 
• The above is not required if the data is unintelligible to those with unauthorized access, if you take adequate measures to ensure no compromise of rights and freedom, or if it is likely to result in adverse consequences. 
• Explain the breach in clear and simple terms and the corrective measures. 

Data protection officer

If your organization processes a large amount of data and various types of data, it might be overwhelming for employees to keep up the tasks required to be GDPR compliant. You might consider appointing a data protection officer (DPA) to perform these tasks. However, GDPR requires businesses to hire a DPA if:

• A public body or authority processes the data. This does not apply to courts and independent judicial authorities. 
• Processing and monitoring personal data on a large scale is central to your business operations.
• Processing special data categories on a large scale is central to your business operations.

GDPR, the easy way

GDPR is not easy – but not a choice either. Bigger fishes like Facebook, Google, or Amazon can afford to pay millions in damages, but can leave smaller companies bleeding to death. 

A PwC survey found that US orgs spend between $1 million to more than $10 million annually to be GDPR compliant. Thankfully, there is a cheaper and faster shortcut that will cost you a fraction of time and money. The Sprinto solution automates the entire process – from evidence collection, monitoring risks, auditing, training – everything you need to have to avoid the GDPR police coming knocking at your door for fines. 

Let’s discuss your needs today. 

FAQs on GDPR Compliance