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Munich, 18 January 2011 – The German data protection laws, in particular the Federal Data Protection Act, are among the strictest regulation of their kind in the world. Unfortunately, the data protection laws contain very few clear requirements which can be directly implemented by CRM, BI and IT infrastructures. Therefore, the management consultancy b.telligent, in cooperation with the law firm SSH Attorneys-at-Law, Munich, has designed a review process which can be used to review BI and CRM processes as well as IT infrastructure for compliance with data protection laws. In addition, b.telligent and SSH Attorneys-at-Law offer robust concepts for the data protection compliant implementation of BI and CRM on the basis of the test results. This enables BI and CRM managers to continue to address customers personally and directly without violating the data protection regulations. Akun Arakin, Chief Evangelist for Internet Marketing with Unica, opened the evening with his presentation on the different perspectives on the handling of data and its constant growth in the online and offline area.
The review process is divided into three phases: in the first phase, the processes relevant under data protection law are identified. In the second phase, every relevant process is subjected to an admissibility check under data protection laws. In the third phase, the target is to crystallize related duties (notices etc.) stipulated by law and to find the best possible mode of implementation with the businesses. Careful documentation of every phase is recommended. This can be significantly simplified by a BI-Wiki.
“Principally, the collection, processing and use of personal data are subject to the prohibition principle. Every act of data processing is prohibited unless and until there is a statutory permission or a pertinent consent” explains Dr. Robert Selk, attorney at law specializing in data protection law and specialist lawyer for IT law, who is also acting as data protection officer for reputable companies in international context. And he further elaborates: “In plain terms, this means that even the updating of existing data and contexts may violate data protection regulations if there is no consent. Often, a number of data protection laws must indeed be applied at the same time, while certain provisions exclude each other. For non-lawyers, the complex legal bases are difficult to understand. This will not change anytime soon, either. Quite the opposite: because Germany is still required to implement EU directives which may have tremendous effects on the use of cookies and the area of behavioral targeting. If the new Employee Data Protection Act as it is currently being discussed is enacted on top of this, the processing of HR data could become problematic, as well.“
“The introduction of the data protection pillory has unsettled our customers very much” says Sebastian Amtage, managing director of b.telligent. “In case of infringements, the BI and CRM managers may not only face criminal proceedings. In certain cases, they are even obligated to inform customers and employees about PR measures. To us, this was the trigger to develop a review process and BI and CRM solutions compliant with data protection laws together with SSH Attorneys-at-Law.”
About SSH Attorneys-at-Law
The law firm SSH Attorneys-at-Law has been established more than 30 years ago and consequently expanded with focus on the different practice areas since then. We do not consider ourselves competitors to major law firms, but as an alternative and supplement because of our high specialization. Despite this, we are similar to these law firms in a number of points, as we, too, are specialized in select areas of law, render our legal advice based on comprehensive scientific research if required and employ solely highly qualified employees. The practice areas of the law firm and its partners are: data protection law, IT law and industrial property rights, capital investment law, corporate law and real estate law.
More information: SSH Attorneys-at-Law
