GDPR Eight Years On – How data privacy affects eCommerce Strategies Across Europe

In the nearly eight years since GDPR was enacted, the eCommerce and the marketing world in general have changed dramatically and in ways that the lawmakers could not have imagined.

The move towards social media marketing and hyper-personalisation of marketing messages have altered the type and volume of data organisations hold about individuals. Every time you see a promoted message on Social Media it has been delivered to you based on both your prior activities and the vast amounts of personal data organisations hold about you. Age, gender, location (accurate to the nearest small town) is being used continuously to fine-tune marketing.

But at what cost to the consumer?

In line with the increase in data being held, processed and shared between organisations, there have been increasing numbers and severity of data attacks with retailers being a prime target. Major data breaches are now a weekly occurrence.

The eCommerce world is a complicated place

The situation is further complicated by the international nature of many businesses. The European Single Market means that any online business needs to aware of how to manage personal data of customers from different countries each of which may have different interpretations of rules around management of PII (Personally Identifiable Information).

Freedom of movement can also complicate this. If an Italian student is registered at and living at Dutch university but is using a German website to send a present to their sibling in Germany what data resides where and under what rules? And, most importantly, how do you manage it?

Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) are the most technically literate and connected generation ever. They form a huge buying block and are, more than anyone else, aware of the risks associated with their personal data being shared by corporations. Your eCommerce business needs to access this group while ensuring that you are respectful of their privacy.

The safest way to mange data is not to have it

This is where InAcademia can help. If your business wants to attract the student population then the easiest and safest way to do this is to use InAcademia.

InAcademia can provide a real-time confirmation of studentness of more than 17,000,000 students in over 40 countries without the need for you to process or store their personal details. Not having to store email addresses, scans of student IDs or any other sensitive information means you have less private data to manage whilst still being able to offer this cohort special deals, discounts or services in the confidence that they are eligible.

InAcademia leverages its access to the universities’ own authentication systems to provide a privacy preserving single interface to allow you to focus on managing your own eCommerce services without the need to worry about the complexity of managing and securing sensitive data.

Find out more here