Is email marketing the main uncertainty affecting businesses in a post-GDPR world?
Opt in to this blog by data protection expert Karen Heaton to find out all you need to know now that we live in the age of consent.
How many emails did you receive in the run up to 25th May this year about ‘opt-ins’ to receive marketing? I, for one, enjoyed a clear out of junk mail where now, only products and services I am actually interested in, arrive in my Inbox. Not only that, but now organisations have to take my unsubscribe request seriously. This was clearly not the case in the past.
But were all these emails necessary? Well, that depends on the lawful basis you have for processing an individual’s data and also how you received an individual’s data.
So, to answer this question, you need first to understand a) your data and b) your lawful basis for using that data.
This is the crux of data protection compliance. Without properly mapping out your data, you will struggle to be compliant with all aspects of data protection. Why? Because if you cannot answer the basic questions of….
….then you may be asking for consent unnecessarily, or not asking for consent when you should be. As well as a raft of other non compliant activities, by the way (and it’s a long list!).
In short, you are risking a breach of the core Principles of data protection, which as we learned in last week’s blog, attract: higher level fines; risk of prosecution; audits by the ICO and restriction of business activities. For medical practises in particular and client facing businesses in general, there is the potential for non-trivial reputational damage from any of these actions.
Once you have itemised the personal data within your organisation, then ask yourself which of the following lawful reasons apply to each of the processing activities undertaken on the data. If none of numbers 1-5 apply, then you must seek consent. Medical data and other Special Category data requires explicit consent.
Example:
A small business selling products has a database of around 3,000 contacts and wants to send those contacts a monthly newsletter with their new product information and special offers. Do they need to send all contacts an ‘opt-in’ to marketing email?
Where consent is required to process data, your systems must be set up to track and manage that consent. Preferably with a description of how consent was given eg. during customer registration process or during a consultation. That way, an audit trail of consent is maintained which will assist in demonstrating your organisation’s compliance with data protection, if questioned.
Today’s fact. The ICO quarterly statistics from Q1 2018, out of 23 industry sectors, the Health sector had the highest numbers of data breaches for any sector – 677 out of a total 3146 reported incidents – 22% of the total. General businesses were 2nd with 14% of the total!
Medical data is a Special Category of data and a therefore a higher standard for processing and seeking consent is in place. Individuals are much more aware and inquisitive about how their information is being used in general, and their rights in particular.
See you next week!
We don’t believe in forms, we believe in talking to people, finding out your needs and tailor-making a solution just for you.
Give us a ring on 020 7125 0270 or email us at info@bluedotconsulting.co.uk
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