The customers should not have been properly informed about the use of profiling methods. The partners of Rewe Austria had merged and evaluated the data left behind during purchases in order to determine customer preferences and set targeted advertising measures.
“This also makes it possible to understand specific purchasing patterns of individual people,” said the data protection authority. And further: “Due to the design of the declarations of consent, it was to be assumed that customers gave their consent to profiling without being aware of it.”
The decision is not final and the Bonus Club will appeal the penalty. A decision by the Federal Administrative Court, which is considered to be overburdened, can take time. Until then, profiling will be suspended for 2.2 to 2.3 (of more than four) million jö cardholders. These customers are now falling over by many advantages. You can continue to collect and redeem bonus points, but for the time being there are no offers based on personal shopping data, i.e. sometimes also none of the regular percentage discounts for which the redeem vouchers are sent by post, according to Mario Rauch from the jö Club executive suite.
The jö-Bonus Club members could have activated, but also deactivated, the tailoring of offers to personal preferences, the club defends itself. You don’t sell any data to third parties. The fine of two million euros is too high. It is unclear how one should now obtain the profiling consent in compliance with data protection regulations. “Our Ö-Bonus Club GmbH” is a 100 percent subsidiary of Rewe International DienstleistungsgesmbH, based in Wiener Neudorf.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
