The National Retail Federation (NRF) and EuroCommerce have agreed to work together in developing a common approach on new EU data protection regulations.
The US and EU representative groups are currently meeting in Brussels to discuss a range of issues impacting the retail industry - including data portability, right to erasure, data consent, profiling and dealing with data breaches.
"Today’s successful discussions between US and European retailers has resulted in an agreement to work together on a unified retail industry approach to implementation of the new EU regulations on protecting personal data,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO.
“This cooperative effort will help retailers on both sides of the Atlantic prepare their businesses for implementation of the regulations with a retail-specific approach that continues the seamless operations and personalised shopping experiences our customers expect."
New Regulations
The General Data Protection Regulation, which was adopted by the European Parliament and Council in 2016, sets out a number of changes to customer data processing.
These regulations will come into effect in May 2018, meaning that retailers will face new compliance standards, additional administrative burdens and increased liability for violations.
"Consumers want confidence that their data is being treated with care and protected by those holding it," added Christian Verschueren, director general of EuroCommerce.
"By working together, we are looking to ensure that we can implement the regulations in a way which serves all of our customers’ interests. We hope that our trans-Atlantic cooperation can pave the way for a global approach that serves both the privacy concerns of citizens and the competitiveness of industry.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
