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Online Shop / E-Commerce

Selling online means regulatory obligations stack up fast.

E-commerce sites process payments, ship goods, and handle customer data at scale. This triggers GDPR, ePrivacy, consumer protection law, and potentially NIS2 if you exceed size thresholds.

Reality check

If a data breach exposed your customer database tomorrow, could you notify the authorities within 72 hours?

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

mandatory Art. 6(1)(b), Art. 20, Art. 33, Art. 35

Your obligations

  • Legal basis for order processing (Art. 6(1)(b) contract)
  • Separate consent for marketing beyond order fulfillment
  • Right to data portability for customer data
  • Breach notification within 72 hours (Art. 33)
  • Data retention policy (don't keep data forever)
  • DPAs with payment providers, shipping, analytics

SiteGuardian monitors this

  • TLS/HTTPS encryption monitoring
  • Automated cookie consent detection
  • Security headers analysis
  • Email transport encryption checks
  • Breach notification SLA tracking (72h)
  • Digital DPA/AVV signing

Risk if ignored

Fines up to 4% of global turnover. Customer lawsuits. Payment processor sanctions. Loss of merchant account.

ePrivacy Directive (Cookie Consent)

mandatory Art. 5(3)

Your obligations

  • Cookie consent for all non-essential cookies
  • Separate consent for remarketing/retargeting
  • No pre-checked consent boxes

SiteGuardian monitors this

  • Pre-consent cookie and tracker detection
  • Cookie banner presence and configuration analysis
  • Reject option validation
  • Consent mode compatibility check

Risk if ignored

Advertising spend wasted on non-compliant targeting. Platform bans (Google, Meta) for consent violations.

NIS2 Directive (Cybersecurity)

conditional Art. 21, Art. 23

Your obligations

  • Risk management measures (Art. 21)
  • Incident reporting within 24h (Art. 23)
  • Supply chain security assessment
  • Business continuity planning

SiteGuardian monitors this

  • 24h/72h/1m incident reporting SLA
  • DNSSEC and DNS security monitoring
  • Security headers and TLS enforcement
  • Uptime and availability monitoring
  • Supply chain risk scoring
  • Incident auto-classification (NIS2 Art. 23)

Risk if ignored

Applies if >50 employees or >€10M turnover. Management liability. Fines up to €10M or 2% of turnover.

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

mandatory Art. 4, Art. 13, Art. 31

Your obligations

  • Accessible checkout process
  • Product information in accessible formats
  • Accessible customer service channels

SiteGuardian monitors this

  • WCAG 2.2 Level AA conformance auditing
  • Automated accessibility scoring
  • Violation severity breakdown and remediation hints
  • Daily accessibility scans

Risk if ignored

E-commerce services must comply from June 2025. Customers can file complaints with market surveillance.

Does this apply to you?

If you answer yes to 2 or more, these regulations very likely apply to your business.

See where you stand

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View all scenarios · EU Regulatory Directory · Compliance Plan

This page provides general information about EU regulatory frameworks. It does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified legal professional for advice specific to your situation. SiteGuardian documents your monitoring continuously — compliance is your organisation's responsibility.