VAT free days and Personal Data

On June 17th the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) issued the External Circular 005 of 2020, in which certain aspects regarding the collection and handling of personal information by data controllers and processors during the VAT free days were established.

The SIC reinforced the need to apply certain aspects that were already included in regulations and guides, such as:

1. Since most of the activities will be performed by e-commerce means, it is important that in such activities, companies implement the marketing, e-commerce and publicity guides issued by the SIC. Those guides refer among other matters to the application of the accountability principle as well as to the implementation of privacy impact assessments during the said activities.
2. When collecting personal data, it is necessary to inform data subjects that the information is being collected due to the business needs and not because of a legal authorization. Therefore, it will be important to have a specific privacy notice for such matters.
3. It is not possible to subject commercial activities to the provision of sensitive personal information, and in general to the provision of any personal data.

Compliance with the above mentioned aspects is relevant in any e-commerce activity and specially during the said VAT free days.

Author
María Alejandra De Los Ríos | [email protected] | Privacy & Data Protection