European Commission aims to introduce uniform data protection law
Published by David Russell on March 21, 2012
On 25 January the European Commission presented a proposal for the comprehensive reform of European data protection legislation. The aim is to establish uniform regulations for all EU member states in order to reduce the costs for individual enterprises and to bolster the confidence of consumers in online services. The project has had a mixed reception amongst specialist professionals.
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Since Otto president Hans-Otto Schrader linked the Home Affaire catalogue on the iPad to Steve Jobs’s statement “This is magic” almost a year ago, a whole sector has been losing its way. An iPad cannot replace the catalogue. The two media are much too incompatible to do so.
By directing their online shop towards foreign consumers, many retailers are running the risk of having to abide by that country’s consumer protection laws and in the event of a dispute being prosecuted by the consumer’s state. However, which criteria can tell you that a shop is directed at foreign trade? European Court of Justice Advocate General Trstenjak has compiled a catalogue of those criteria.
According to an investigation initiated and coordinated by the EU Commission, half of online ticketing websites analysed by national regulators in a EU-wide review appear to have breached consumer laws and some UK website operators are flagged for further investigation. Read more…
The European Commission announced that it has referred the UK to the European Court of Justice for an inadequate implementation of EU data protection rules. Last year and earlier this year, the EU Commission had claimed that the UK Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and the Data Protection Act do not fully implement EU’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive and the Data Protection Directive.
A new consumer protection law recently came into effect in Belgium which reformed the existing legal regulations regarding retail practices, the information companies are obliged to provide to consumers and consumer protection (GHP). This also includes the extension of the cancellation period from 7 days to 14 days. Read more about the important new regulations here.
Once again cookies are in the focus of legislation – a current consultation concerns the Government’s plans for implementing a set of five EU Directives, the European Electronic Communications Framework. The EU e-Privacy Directive was amended in November 2009 to include, among other aspects, cookies consent provisions. What does the modification mean for website operators?
The question of whether to direct a shop towards foreign consumers is of extreme importance for online retailers. If a shop is actively directed towards foreign consumers, a consumer then has the right to press charges against a retailer in their own country – according to the laws of the consumer’s country. Until now it was unclear as to what constituted a shop being directed towards a foreign market, but the ECJ has now published clear criteria.
If the consumer exercises their right to cancel, any payments they have made must be refunded. But does that include the cost of delivery of the goods to the consumer? The European Court of Justice discussed this issue today and decided: yes, these costs also have to be refunded.
As part of the revision of the Swiss postal law and due to a parliamentary motion in December 2009 with the objective of reducing obstructions to international online retail, the Swiss Federal Council decided to introduce a simplified customs declaration procedure for small packages sent to authorised recipients (ZE) in Switzerland that will come into effect on January 1st 2011. At the same time, there are plans to increase the duty and tax free limit from 5 CHF to 10 CHF per package.
