Everyone seems to be sending out emails to their entire subscriber list asking them to re-consent to receiving their emails and newsletters. The fact of the matter is that this may not be necessary and you risk annoying your clients for nothing!
Many people forget that there are two laws at play: the GDPR and the UK’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (‘PECR’). Under the latter, you need specific consent for marketing by email or text unless an exemption applies. One such exemption is known as the “soft opt-in” exemption, whereby you can send emails/texts without consent as long as the following conditions are met:
– You have obtained the contact details in the course of a sale (or negotiations of a sale) of a product or service i.e from existing customers or prospects
– You are only marketing your own similar products and services
– You provided a simple opportunity to refuse or opt-out of the marketing, when you first collected the contact details and in every subsequent communication.
This means you may be able to continue to email or text your own customers without consent, but this will not apply to prospective customers, bought-in lists, and generally does not apply to non-commercial promotions, e.g. charities.
And from a GDPR perspective, you comply with that law and are allowed to process personal data on the ‘legitimate interest’ basis. So all angles are covered.
So all you need to do is email your clients and prospects telling them you are now GDPR compliant, but they don’t need to tick anything! If you need help or a template Privacy Policy, see our GDPR page for more resources.
Happy drafting!
PS if you are sharing data with third parties or have bought in a list, then please consult us as the above will not apply to you.
