GDPR fines: GDPR is bombarding databases
A new regulation changes the data world.
Intro
In a matter of days, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR) will be incorporated in EU laws. This regulation will signify the biggest change of data protection and privacy policy regulations the last two decades.
Under GDPR, all non-compliant corporations are subject to fines from 2% -5% of annual turnover, reaching up to 20 million, for both data breaches and administrative breaches.
This change of approach, in dealing with non-compliance companies, is indicative of a more serious overall attitude — data protection and information security is now more important than ever.
Till now most greek companies stand still and watch the problems coming. Even worse some let their company future lay in the hands of well-known lawyers who are GDPR certified ( OMG) and find themselves even more confused and troubled. Because these laywers may be pretty valuable in the court, but out of the water when they should deal with computer systems. So the problems remain and grow bigger.
Our intention is to help you clear things up regarding the mailing lists and if they are eligible for use under the GDPR. The main question is:
Can I use my old lists of contacts?
GDPR and mailing lists
In GDPR era, every citizen has the right to claim a refund , a huge refund to be honest,if there is proof that a company used a person's private data without the consent of this person.
That's after all the reason of GDPR existence. To put an end in all spam marketing violations of privacy that annoys all of us ( through email, SMS, viber, facebook, messenger, etc.)
Simply answering the question : Yes, you can use your old lists…BUT only if you can present proof of consent for all of your entries.Be careful! Νot just have them written down, but after being explicitly informed, have your customer’s agreement.If you keep such records, there is nothing to be afraid of otherwise, as soon as the clock strikes midnight on the 25 May 2018, your database is finished.
There are solutions
Two choices are given here:
First choice:delete your database completely and start over. Wetherspoon did that, preferring safety to any risks.
Second choice: do it right and ask for the consent of all your contacts in your database. You can add an informative paragraph in the messages you usually send ( newsletters, product offers). This paragraph will include a link to a page where you will ask them to give you thei consent. You should point out the consequences if they don't do that - they won't be able to receive your amazing newsletters anymore!
The second choice is obviously the most popular and if you haven't already started to prerare your GDPR campaign, please hurry up.Here is an example of "the little Green Sheep" a UK company which asked its subscribers to subscribe again with a proper developed newsletter but also giving them the chance to deny.
Make it work!
Don’t repeat older mistakes. Your new contacts should make it clear that they want to be updated with your newsletters (marketing campaigns) by taking action (press a button, click on a link, etc.). A legal page of consent should look like:
And if you haven’t picked up on it yet, here is the key point:
Don’t forget that all your new contacts must have access to their data information and be able to change them or delete them.(Right to be forgotten)
Plus, there must be links for all the relative services.
How, we, in Tellody handle it?
In Tellody the use of non-compliant customer databases is against our terms and conditions and violates our privacy policy.
Please don’t make us lock down your account, because that’s what we do when we spot any violation to an account.
That’s why we have been working hard for months to develop new features that will help make GDPR compliance easier for you and your subscribers. Since February 2018, Tellody fully supports:
- Right to be forgotten
- Proof of subscriber consent
- GDPR conformed Opt in templates
- Edit Profile functionalities
And we have moved all our server inside the EU boundaries.
Using these features, sending renewal messages to your subscribers is a piece of cake:
and create opt-in pages aligned with the new regulation:
To sum up
All the companies handling personal data for email or SMS campaigns and newsletters should be very careful after the 25th of May.
But nothing can stand between a company and its devoted customers as long as the company has taken the right actions in order to have a fully updated customer’s database in a GDPR compliant marketing platform