What eCommerce Brands Need to Know About Cross-Border Data Transfers and Compliance

The internet is borderless. Privacy laws are not.

If your store collects data from customers in the EU, Brazil, or California—and that data is processed by vendors in the U.S.—you’re engaging in a cross-border data transfer. And if you’re not handling those transfers correctly, you’re out of compliance.

The good news: you don’t need to overhaul your tech stack. But you do need to understand how data flows across regions, what the laws say, and how to reduce your legal risk without breaking attribution, tracking, or customer experience.

Here’s how to do that:

• What Is a Cross-Border Data Transfer?
• Key Privacy Regulations That Apply
• How to Evaluate Your Exposure
• Reducing Risk Without Breaking Your Stack

Cross-Border Transfers are Everywhere in eCommerce

A cross-border data transfer occurs when personal data leaves the jurisdiction it was collected in—like moving customer information from the EU to the U.S.

For eCommerce, this happens constantly:

• Hosting providers: Using platforms like Shopify, Shopify Plus, or CDNs with global delivery

• Third-party platforms: Sending behavioral data to GA4, Meta, Klaviyo, Zendesk, etc.

• Payments and logistics: Routing sensitive customer data through gateways or fulfillment partners based in other countries

Even if your team doesn’t directly store data abroad, your vendors likely do. And under GDPR, LGPD, and CPRA, that’s still your responsibility.

“One common misconception we hear is that as long as a store is based in the US or EU, data transfers aren’t really their problem,” says Nikos Tsirakis, Co-Founder of Pandectes.

“But the truth is, where your customers are located—and where their data goes—matters much more. Just loading a third-party script, like Meta Pixel or Google Analytics, can trigger an international data transfer. And with stricter enforcement around things like GDPR and Schrems II rulings, these transfers require a legal basis, like SCCs or user consent.”

Simply using a tool doesn’t make your stack compliant. It’s how, where, and when that tool processes customer data that determines your risk.

Key Privacy Regulations that Apply

You don’t need to be a lawyer—but you do need to understand which laws apply and what they expect from you.

GDPR (European Union)
Data sent outside the EU must be protected using:

• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) — Legal templates that enforce GDPR obligations when data is transferred to non-EU countries

• Adequacy Decisions — Allow free data flow to countries the EU considers to have strong enough protections

• Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) — Internal policies approved by regulators for multinationals transferring data globally

LGPD (Brazil)
Modeled after GDPR, Brazil’s law requires a legal basis and safeguards for international transfers. SCCs or explicit consent are commonly used.

CPRA (California)
The rules are looser, but still critical. Sharing user data with third parties may count as a “sale” under CPRA, which triggers opt-out rights and additional consent requirements.

Utku İyigün at GroupShift, elaborates that “…hosting data on a server within the EU does not automatically ensure compliance with GDPR—even if the company accessing the data is headquartered elsewhere. In reality, the legal entity accessing or processing the data still matters, and cross-border access alone can trigger regulatory obligations.”

How to Evaluate your Exposure

To know where you’re vulnerable, you need to map your data flow—starting with your vendors.

Here’s how to audit your exposure:

• Identify where your vendors are headquartered and where data is processed

• Review contracts for SCCs, Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), and sub-processor lists

• Flag tools that sync in real-time or use cloud APIs that process data globally

If your contract doesn’t specify how and where data is handled, or whether consent is required before processing, you’re operating in a legal blind spot.

Reducing Risk Without Breaking Your Stack

Don’t panic — Compliance doesn’t mean abandoning your tech stack! It means configuring it thoughtfully.

Here’s how high-growth teams are reducing risk without disrupting performance:

• Use Consent Mode or equivalent tag gating to delay tracking until legal basis is confirmed

• Configure analytics tools (like GA4) to anonymize IPs and disable data collection for users who decline consent

• Choose vendors that support EU or regional data residency and are open to signing DPAs

• Flag and review tools that lack localization settings or fire before consent

Don’t wait for a regulator or an angry customer to find your weak spot—build a framework that enforces consent from the first click.

Build Cross-Border Compliance Into Your Tracking Infrastructure

You can’t prevent cross-border data transfers in eCommerce—but you can make them transparent, documented, and defensible.

Start by running a consent audit on your stack. Identify which tools fire before opt-in. Update contracts. Localize logic. And route all tracking through a system that honors consent by default.