On modern retail legal issues
David Kastin has been the General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer and Executive Leadership Team member of several well-known national retailers. He has a proven record for delivering innovative, strategic and creative business and legal solutions, implementing growth as well as cost-saving initiatives. He advises Boards of Directors, CEOs and the rest of the C-level team on day-to-day matters facing companies as well as enterprise-wide, macro-issues.
?I caught up with David at the Retail Insiders Party at CommerceNext.
There are myriad financial, technical and HR changes going on in retail these days. What are the key issues that Boards of Directors should be concerned with?
?Boards of Directors are ultimately concerned with all enterprise-wide risks facing an organization and whether management is aware of these risks and how they are effectively and pro-actively managing and mitigating those risks. Matters that Directors should be focused on are, of course dependent on the industry, but ubiquitous throughout all industries are Federal, state and local regulations, cybersecurity and data protection, long- and short-term strategy and financial goals, succession planning and talent management, and adherence to good corporate governance.?
Retailers are facing a future where cookies may be going away, and they’ll have to devise new ways to achieve personalization. Any advice for them?
?The biggest legal risks retailers face when trying to reach out to customers to personalize their shopping experience, whether its tailoring specific products and offerings or marketing materials, is data privacy, cybersecurity, discrimination, and transparency – what personal information is being captured, what is the organization doing with this information, is it secure, does the customer know both that its being captured and for what purpose it’s being used. ?Companies need to have strong data governance policies and perform regular audits to mitigate these risks.
You’re on the Executive Leadership Council of the Retail AI Council. What issues do you think General Counsels may have with AI use in retail?
?This is a new technology, and as with all new technologies, we are learning at the same time as everyone else, and the laws are not well-settled. The Legal Department sits at the crossroads of AI at an organization.? First, we must assess the use of the AI technology and manage the risks to the organization as whole – including, data privacy and compliance with regulations, intellectual property and ownership of data, public-company disclosures, anti-competition issues, such as unfair or discriminatory practices, and marketing and advertising claims.? Second, Legal Departments are customers of AI solutions, and we must manage the risks in using AI in representing our client – including, data privacy, maintaining attorney-client privilege, and assuring accuracy of the information being generated.? These lists of risks are not exhaustive and careful consideration must be given to avoid significant litigation and reputational risk to a company.
You can reach David at [email protected] and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/davidkastin
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