A report by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) indicates UK businesses spent £14.2 billion on direct marketing in 2011, and it’s predicted that number will increase by seven percent in 2012, writes the DMA’s Chris Combemale in an op-ed for The Guardian. As such, the draft EU data protection regulation should strike the right balance “between protecting individuals’ rights to data privacy and preserving the commercial freedoms of companies to engage with consumers.” As it’s drafted, the regulation’s opt-in consent requirements, classification of IP addresses as personal data and “overly prescriptive” regulation on the right to be forgotten would stifle data-driven marketing, Combemale says.
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