The CatEx Direct Commerce Association (CatEx DCA) has intensified its lobbying to campaign against Europe-wide data reforms that threaten to stifle the sector’s growth and innovation.
Since the first draft was published in 2012, the European Commission has received further amendments to the proposed legislation regarding the definition of personal data, limitations on customer profiling, consent to direct marketing and the so-called “right to be forgotten”, which experts warn will severely infringe the right of businesses to use data to market their goods and services to consumers across Europe.
Speaking at the CatEx DCA Spring Conference on 18th April, Mark Roy, chief executive of The Data Agency and chair of the Direct Marketing Association’s Data Council, highlighted that “any company worth its salt is investing heavily in using data to improve the efficiency of its marketing”. However, “at a time when we have never been doing it better, Brussels chooses to reinvent the wheel.”
Roy stressed that in less than three years’ time when these changes are expected to come into force-direct marketers’ existing business models will be obsolete, with companies unable
to segment their data or carry out any form of customer profiling. For those who still believe the threat will simply all fizzle out, he dealt a further blow, “This is not a directive. This is a law. You can be prosecuted. It is serious”.
Act now to save the sector
Also speaking at the event, Charles Park, a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons called upon delegates and the wider sector to act immediately. “The battle is not lost…” he said,
“the time for lobbying is now.” He underlined the importance of acting swiftly as the European Parliament intends to move on the issue before the end of June 2013.
He also urged UK businesses to prepare for the investment needed to comply with potential changes. According to the DMA, regardless of how the final legislation is worded, there’s heavy political pressure in Brussels to pass new data laws before Europe goes to the polls in June 2014.
Nigel Swabey, president of CatEx DCA and chief executive of catalogue group Scotts & Co, implored delegates to lobby their MPs and MEPs before it’s too late. “This is what our
industry has been fearing for the past 25 years it’s the most serious threat we’ve ever faced. What we’re doing at CatEx is arming you with information to make a difference”.
Time is running out to make the sector’s voice heard, and yet, what emerged from the conference is that many businesses are still unsure or unaware of just how damaging the proposed changes are. With that in mind, and bolstering its existing lobbying activities, CatEx DCA has published its formal response to the regulation explaining the four key concerns affecting the direct commerce sector. Written by Tim Curtis, a CatEx DCA special advisor and board alumnus, the paper tackles concerns, consequences, proportionality and urgency and calls upon “anyone with influence on policy-makers, regulators and our parliamentary representatives to call for a more relevant, better considered and proportionate response to recent developments in digital data management.”
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