Individual choose to share personal information about themselves, in order to build trust with each other, in our platforms. Protecting perosnal data is therefore fundamental to our marketplaces ecosystem, because increased protection encourages broader data exchange, a more efficient market and, as such, higher transaction volume. The data managed by businesses about the consumer form the very basis of a long-term customer relationship and our businesses' competitive advantage. For instance, our payments system PayPal allows consumers to pay for transactions without exposing their financial information. As such, we believe PayPal to be the most privacy protective payment mechanism commercially available today, demonstrating that the principle of 'privacy by design' has economic value, as a competitive differentiator.
eBay has always engaged in the dialogue that the Commission launched back in 2009 as regards data protection, sharing its broad views on the legal framework enshrined in Directive 95/46/EC. As the consultation process evolves, we more specifically comment on the impact that the revision may have on online businesses such as ours. As leading e-commerce platforms and online payment services operating in both EU and non-EU countries, we believe our first-hand experience and top-level compliance when dealing with personal data can be valuable in light of the current revision of the Directive.
Therefore our approach focuses specific dimensions of the processing of personal data that are critical to eBay Inc. — both eBay Marketplaces and PayPal:
- The scope and definition of personal data, in particular location data and IP addresses
- The principle of country of origin as applicable law
- The 'Right to be forgotten'
- The regulatory framework for mergers and acquisition and intra-group data sharing
- Fraud detection and Anti-Money Laundering
- The need for international consistency
eBay Inc's contribution to the consultation aims at showing that an innovation-driven, technology-neutral and flexible regulatory approach is not incompatible with a high degree of personal data protection. On the contrary, eBay Inc. believes that an objective-orientated regulatory framework will ensure that both ambitions of the protection of fundamental rights and the achievement of the Internal Market are completed, paving the way for a competitively enhanced digital Europe.
See Commission's Communication 'A comprehensive approach on personal data in the European Union'