New legislation to overhaul data protection rules across Europe
could cost UK businesses £47 billion in lost sales.
According to the businesses polled by the Direct Marketing
Association, the average cost per company through lost sales and
additional charges caused by the proposed regulation could
potentially reach £76,000.
In January, the European Commission drafted an update to the EU
data protection law, its first overhaul since implementation in
1995. The changes would introduce a single set of rules on data
protection, valid across the EU-a move the Commission says will
save businesses some €2.3 billion a year in administrative
costs.
However, respondents to a survey carried out by the Future
Foundation on behalf of the DMA, said the new rules would place a
major burden on the UK economy. They cited the new proposals
relating to the use of web analytics as having the most serious
implications.
In a significant update, individuals will be given more rights
regarding the way their data is processed. They will also have a
“right to be forgotten”, giving them powers to delete
their data if there are “no legitimate grounds for
retaining it”. This data can include anything from an
individual’s name and email address, to bank details or even
posts on social networks.
The DMA also notes that “personal data” could be
interpreted to include IP addresses. If this were the case, notes
the report, web analytics would not be possible without the
express consent of the individual. Unsurprisingly, the survey
found that retailers would be the hardest hit if they could no
longer use web analytics for marketing services, with an
estimated likely cost to their business of £160,000. Despite
this, only 36 percent of the retail and wholesale businesses
surveyed were aware of the new draft regulations.
Read
more about how the legislation could affect your
business.
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