[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":216},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-\u002Fgetting-started\u002Fwhy-eu-only":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":206,"edit":207,"extension":208,"meta":209,"navigation":210,"path":211,"seo":212,"stem":213,"vertical":207,"weight":214,"__hash__":215},"content\u002Fgetting-started\u002Fwhy-eu-only.md","Why EU-only",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":195},"minimark",[9,18,21,26,73,76,80,107,111,114,140,143,147,150,158,161,165,168,185,188,192],[10,11,12,13,17],"p",{},"OpenSense is, today, EU-only. Customer data lives in ",[14,15,16],"code",{},"eu-central",",\nthe company is registered in Slovakia, billing flows through Stripe\nEU, and email goes through Postmark's EU pop. There is no US,\nUK-only, CH, or other-region option.",[10,19,20],{},"This page exists because the question comes up before signup —\nsometimes hopefully (\"good, that suits us\"), sometimes\ndisappointed (\"ah, we wanted US\"). Either way, here is the why.",[22,23,25],"h2",{"id":24},"what-eu-only-actually-means","What \"EU-only\" actually means",[27,28,29,37,43,49,55,61,67],"ul",{},[30,31,32,36],"li",{},[33,34,35],"strong",{},"Compute and storage",": Hetzner Falkenstein, Germany.",[30,38,39,42],{},[33,40,41],{},"Backups",": a second Hetzner volume in the same region.",[30,44,45,48],{},[33,46,47],{},"Off-site backup",": Hetzner Nuremberg, also Germany.",[30,50,51,54],{},[33,52,53],{},"Email delivery",": Postmark, with our account routed through\ntheir EU pop (Amsterdam).",[30,56,57,60],{},[33,58,59],{},"Customer support",": from Bratislava, Slovakia.",[30,62,63,66],{},[33,64,65],{},"Legal entity",": Slovak s.r.o.",[30,68,69,72],{},[33,70,71],{},"Stripe billing",": Stripe Payments Europe Limited (Ireland).",[10,74,75],{},"The only non-EU entity in the loop today is Postmark itself (US\ncompany). Their EU pop means data does not cross the Atlantic for\nour account, but their corporate headquarters are in the US — which\nmatters under the US CLOUD Act. We are evaluating EU-native\nalternatives (Mailjet, SES eu-west) for 2026-Q3.",[22,77,79],{"id":78},"why-we-chose-this","Why we chose this",[81,82,83,89,95,101],"ol",{},[30,84,85,88],{},[33,86,87],{},"Customer base."," Our customers are EU food businesses,\nhotels, schools and small manufacturers. The regulatory\nreference frames are EU regulations. The local sales context\nis EU.",[30,90,91,94],{},[33,92,93],{},"Data-residency expectations."," Under GDPR and member-state\nlaws (Bavarian Datenschutz, Czech ÚOOÚ, Slovak ÚOOÚ), customer-\ndata residency in the EU is the default and the safe answer.",[30,96,97,100],{},[33,98,99],{},"US Cloud Act exposure."," A US-headquartered cloud provider is\ncompelled by US law to comply with US subpoenas regardless of\nwhere the data sits. Hetzner is a Germany-only entity with no\nUS parent; the legal exposure of customer data to US authorities\nis materially lower.",[30,102,103,106],{},[33,104,105],{},"One thing to operate well."," As a solo founder, I cannot run a\nglobal multi-region service well. EU-only lets me run one thing\ncorrectly.",[22,108,110],{"id":109},"what-this-means-for-non-eu-customers","What this means for non-EU customers",[10,112,113],{},"We can technically serve non-EU customers — the ingest URL is\nreachable from anywhere — but:",[27,115,116,122,128,134],{},[30,117,118,121],{},[33,119,120],{},"Latency"," may be noticeable from Asia and the Americas (one\nround-trip from Australia is ~280 ms vs ~30 ms from Bratislava).",[30,123,124,127],{},[33,125,126],{},"Compliance frames"," are EU-centric. Our HACCP defaults are EU\nfood law. Our Legionella defaults are German DVGW. We do not\nship presets for FDA, FSMA, or USDA.",[30,129,130,133],{},[33,131,132],{},"Support hours"," are Europe\u002FBratislava business hours.",[30,135,136,139],{},[33,137,138],{},"Billing"," is in EUR with EU VAT handling. We are not registered\nfor US state sales tax.",[10,141,142],{},"If those are acceptable, we are happy to serve you. If they are\nnot, please buy from a vendor who is set up for your region.",[22,144,146],{"id":145},"when-would-we-expand","When would we expand?",[10,148,149],{},"A non-EU region opens when one of the following happens:",[27,151,152,155],{},[30,153,154],{},"A specific customer (or set) commits to a multi-year contract\nthat funds the second region's operating cost. Then we will\nopen it.",[30,156,157],{},"We are big enough that running two regions is a small fraction\nof total revenue. Not yet.",[10,159,160],{},"We will not run a \"best effort\" non-EU presence. If we open a\nregion, it is a real region with the same SLA as the primary.",[22,162,164],{"id":163},"what-about-switzerland-and-the-uk","What about Switzerland and the UK?",[10,166,167],{},"These come up as separate questions, since they are not EU.",[27,169,170,179],{},[30,171,172,175,176,178],{},[33,173,174],{},"Switzerland",": technically reachable from ",[14,177,16],{},"; the\nSwiss data-protection regime (FDPA) is GDPR-equivalent for\npractical purposes. Swiss customers buy from us today.",[30,180,181,184],{},[33,182,183],{},"United Kingdom",": same — UK GDPR is materially aligned with EU\nGDPR. UK customers buy from us today.",[10,186,187],{},"For both, we recommend confirming with your own counsel that EU\nprocessing is acceptable under your specific regulatory frame.\nFor Swiss banking-level requirements or UK Critical National\nInfrastructure obligations, the answer may be no; for the small-\nbusiness operator, the answer is yes.",[22,189,191],{"id":190},"a-note-on-the-future","A note on the future",[10,193,194],{},"If the EU and US data-protection regimes converge again (a new\nPrivacy Shield or similar), the picture changes. We will follow the\nEDPB's guidance; we will not jump the gun. For now, \"EU-only\" is\nboth a feature and a commitment.",{"title":196,"searchDepth":197,"depth":197,"links":198},"",3,[199,201,202,203,204,205],{"id":24,"depth":200,"text":25},2,{"id":78,"depth":200,"text":79},{"id":109,"depth":200,"text":110},{"id":145,"depth":200,"text":146},{"id":163,"depth":200,"text":164},{"id":190,"depth":200,"text":191},"A short note on jurisdiction choice",null,"md",{},true,"\u002Fgetting-started\u002Fwhy-eu-only",{"title":5,"description":206},"getting-started\u002Fwhy-eu-only",26,"CifEAfqsKBL6q6JIsBCFAm97nekxcMjtJjwTvrpPcCY",1779022953499]