APPLICATION OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAMS AND ISSUES OF DATA PROTECTION

Abstract

The business owners, administrators and managers are strongly depended on the internet, to develop their business. This fact is more obvious in cases when applying the loyalty programs and contacts with the customers. Marketers sometimes get lost in their business management and tend to be less focused on the legal issues, keeping their mind in the business growth. In this point, one of the key elements is being on compliance with the national and international legal norms of data protection of the customers. The relevant changes in the domestic law makes it more difficult for the business owners to operate their online marketing business. Nevertheless, it seems that such legal provisions with regard to privacy and data protection are not fully respected and the state institutions should do more about this. This article discusses the application of customer loyalty programs and the issues related to data protection, especially in Albania. It was found out that more efforts are needed to adhere to the EU standards in protecting personal data and certainly a stricter control by the government institutions is required on the way and methods the big companies collect, store and share the personal information of the customers.