The General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, comes into effect on May 25th, 2018, and represents the biggest change in data regulations in over two decades. GDPR and marketing go hand in hand, as data has become an increasingly important part of digital marketing initiatives over the past few years.
You may have already seen email communications from companies letting you know that they are making changes to their policies to ensure that they are compliant with these new regulations.
At its core, GDPR is about wrestling control of data from large corporations and giving it back to consumers. But GDPR is far-reaching and will force companies to be proactive about how they manage customer data in many areas. They will have to take responsibility for the data they already hold and be meticulous in how they request access to data in the future.
Some of the key elements to GDPR include:
- Much more specific about having the right consent for data and the right to process it
- A requirement to report data breaches promptly
- Consumers have the right to see the data that you hold on them via subject access requests
- The regulation will also make it much easier for a consumer to move data from one service provider to another
Companies that fail to address GDPR will face significant penalties of up to 4% of global turnover, or €20m, whichever is greater.
Understanding what you need to do for compliance
It is important that business’ are thinking about GDPR and marketing teams understand the impact it could have on how they interact with customers. Some of the things you should already be thinking about are:
- What data do you already hold on your customers? How did you gain consent for this data and are you only using for those purposes?
- How easy is it for customers to request access to their data, and how easily could you get it back to them?
- Do your employees understand the new GDPR rules, and is there a clear process to report a data breach?
- Who in your organisation is responsible for GDPR? Some companies will need to appoint a Data Protection Officer.
Proactively addressing these questions now will put you in good stead, and help avoid awkward conversations with regulators.
Are you GDPR ready?
With little over a month to go, companies should be well down the road of assessing what GDPR will mean to them.
At AsOne we are perfectly placed to help companies tackle concerns around GDPR and marketing. For over a decade we have been helping companies maximise the value of their marketing data, and have worked with them to ensure that data is stored safely and securely.
We believe that data will remain at the heart of company’s business development strategies, but they will now have to be more sensitive to the demands of the public when it comes to its use.
If you’re worried about the introduction of GDPR and want to understand the implications for your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
