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10 March 2021
Like 99% of the population, you have more than likely been contacted by almost every company you have ever subscribed to, asking you to review their privacy policy. This is because GDPR, a change in the way companies can contact you, is coming into effect on May 25th, 2018, and every company needs to be compliant.
If your company hasn’t yet started to implement your GDPR compliancy strategy, there’s still time, but you’ll need to hurry! If your company is not compliant by May 25th, 2018, you could be penalised with huge fines, and nobody wants that.
To help you and your company become compliant, we have highlighted our top 5 GDPR facts below.
1. Can we get a little bit of privacy?
Privacy is important to people, nobody wants their personal belongings on show for everyone to see and use, and personal data is no different. As a data collector, you will no longer have the right to pass this information on after the 25th May without the explicit consent of your customer.
To make sure your customers understand their privacy whilst using your website, we highly recommend updating your privacy policy to provide the additional information required by GDPR.
2. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!
After accumulating your email subscribers’ year on year, don’t let all of that hard work go to waste! Unless you contact all of your email subscribers by 25th May and ask them to opt-in and they do, they have to go! We don’t mean you can’t email them; we mean you have to physically remove them from all of your databases.
To avoid this, we highly recommend a strategic email campaign, letting your customers know that for them to continue receiving your company updates, they’ll need to re-opt in. In the email, you should provide a simple link taking them to a sign-up form which they can submit. Once they have done this, you should keep it in a new, separate list as these contacts have now opted in and can receive your emails.
Unfortunately, you will have to permanently delete the ones who don’t subscribe to be GDPR compliant, so don’t leave it too long!
3. Knowledge is Power
Knowing about the law changes is just as important as implementing the changes to your marketing strategy, so brush up. Understanding why you’re having to make these changes and what they mean for you can greatly improve how you approach your marketing.
Training your staff to understand the changes and how it will impact your company is also a very worthwhile action to take before 25th May.
4. Change Your Forms for Explicit Consent
A pre-ticked box is no longer enough. We repeat a pre-ticked box is no longer enough!
From 25th May, your customers will have to opt-in to receive your marketing, which means they themselves will have to tick the box on your contact forms and email sign-ups. This is a move which highlights everything GDPR is about, transparency.
Whilst pre-ticked box for consent used to be enough, customers are now in control of whether they want to receive your communications or not. We strongly advise getting all of your contact forms GDPR friendly sooner rather than later to avoid the risk of being penalised.
5. Speak to an expert
Whilst we offer our own advice on what you should be doing prior to the introduction of GDPR, speaking with a legal professional if you’re unsure can save you money in the long run.
They will be able to offer you advice on what your company needs to change, when to do it by and how to ensure your company is fully compliant.
If you’re still not sure on GDPR and need a bit of a helping hand, why not contact the experts? Give us a call on 01565 632 112 or email us and we’ll be happy to help you figure out a privacy policy that’s not only GDPR-compliant but is personal to your business too.