eco on LOCATION Oliver Süme, Chairman of the eco Board and Director of Policy, Law & Regulations.

The EU-US Privacy Shield governs the protection of personal data transferred from a member state of the European Union to the United States. For the Internet economy on both sides of the Atlantic, a consensual and long-term data protection regime is a necessary basis for any business model in which personal data is stored and processed across borders. However, the EU-US Privacy Shield has been criticized since its launch in 2016. In the United States, an alternative model to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is being discussed. As the leading associations of the Internet industry in the United States and Europe, i2Coalition and eco would like you to join them in a discussion relaying the experience and needs of their members.

eco on LOCATION Oliver Süme, Chairman of the eco Board and Director of Policy, Law & Regulations.

After opening our office in Brussels about two years ago, we are very happy having had the opportunity to move into new premises this last year. We would like to use this opportunity together with the beginning of a new and promising year lying ahead to celebrate. On the evening of 6th February 2019 in Brussels, eco will bring together stakeholders from across the digital policy spectrum to reflect on the many collective achievements over the last year(s) in the efforts to realise a true information society in Europe.

In the course of the most recent data scandal, the German Federal Minister for Justice Katarina Barley has called for stricter rules for the operators of Internet platforms. eco Association Chair Oliver Süme comments.

Encryption is an effective means to prevent this kind of attack and data theft. Therefore, the German federal government should more strongly support and drive forward the development and dissemination of user-friendly encryption technologies.

Those who have already bought groceries over the Internet are generally happy and want to order again online, with online grocery-shopping proving particularly popular amongst households with children.  Room for improvement exists in the areas of sustainable and organic products.

On 11th December, around 100 experts met at the Blockchain Masters in Cologne, where it was agreed that, with the initial hype now behind us, more and more IT applications are now using blockchain technology as a given. In the future, this technology will even present alternatives to platform monopolies. Meanwhile, a focal point in 2019 will be asset tokenization.