NRF-EuroCommerce agreement on common approach to General Data Protection Regulation

The National Retail Federation (NRF) and EuroCommerce recently announced in Brussels an agreement to work together in developing a common approach to implement the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulation, adopted in April 2016 and to be implemented from May 2018, sets out changes to most customer data processing areas.

The agreement followed meetings between NRF and EuroCommerce member firms, US Government and EU officials, Europe-based retailers and EuroCommerce on a gamut of issues impacting the retail industry, such as data portability, consumers’ right to have their data removed, gaining data subjects’ consent, profiling and dealing with data breaches, according to a recent NRF press release.

EuroCommerce, the principal European organization representing the retail and wholesale sector, and NRF, the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, main street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries, held a similar meeting last year to address issues of common concern to retailers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Once the GDPR comes into force, retailers with storefronts, websites, mobile apps or other digital platforms serving customers will face new compliance standards, additional administrative burdens and liability for violations as well as more stringent enforcement penalties.