The DMA has hit back at calls for the EU to stand firm on new data laws, vowing to continue its fight against the legislation as many of the proposals carry an “unfair burden” on business.
Last week, European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx expressed his fear that member states are seeking to water down the draft Data Protection Regulation, and said that some fine tuning of the proposal would be fine, “but on the whole the current approach is good”.
But commenting in response to Hustinx’s remarks Chris Combemale (pictured), chief executive of the DMA, said that onerous new data privacy legislation would come with a serious price tag for UK plc.
“Many elements of the Data Protection Regulation would be unduly restrictive for businesses, without meeting the EU’s stated aim of enhancing protection of individuals’ data privacy rights. The idea that lawmakers should ignore the legitimate concerns of industry is highly counterproductive to formulating effective data privacy legislation.”
“People have every right to data privacy protection, but this must not cause an unfair burden on business. Any legislation must strike a fine balance between protecting the interests of both, but the current draft Data Protection Regulation fails to do so.
Combemale added: “Our members and the businesses we’ve spoken to are in agreement that if the Regulation were to be implemented in its current form, then it would cause significant financial harm to UK businesses that use personal data for marketing purposes to drive sales.”
Last week, the DMA published an independent study into consumer attitudes towards data privacy.
The survey, which polled 1,020 UK adults, found that more than one in two (53%) people are willing to share their personal information with brands in exchange for free services and better product deals.
The DMA is conducting an extensive economic impact analysis report to determine full cost to UK businesses if the current draft of the Regulation were to be passed into law tomorrow. The report will be published in July.
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