Re:No one is opening those emails about privacy updates
by DanBC on Saturday June 16, 2018 @04:04AM
(#17326514)
This article is pretty bad. It gets a bunch of stuff wrong.
> The GDPR requires companies to send emails to people on their mailing list who have never bought anything, asking permission to keep emailing them
Emailing those people was already illegal under PECR. GDPR hasn't changed the legality of sending unsolicited email to people that you don't have a business relationship with.
> "People are not opting back in," says Michael Horn, the director of data science for digital marketing agency Huge. "It's one thing for your customers who don't have a relationship with the brand to decline and not respond, but you're also losing a sales channel."
GDPR does not force a business to get consent for all processing. This is a persistant myth. If you have an existing business relationship and you obtained the email address legally you can rely on legitimate interests.
> "You never read the terms and conditions when you sign up for some website.
GDPR requires companies to make their T&Cs a lot simpler and clearer. This is a good thing. If you know people aren't reading your T&Cs how can you expect those people to be bound by them?
> Under these regulations, companies are relatively free to send emails to customers who have purchased something from them. But sending email to non-customers is common practice in the email marketing world. A lot of companies ask for email addresses when you visit their web site, even if you don't buy anything. Others buy email lists from third parties.
This is what people are defending. Sending junk email to addresses that you've bought. Getting someone's email address for one purpose and use it for another. (And, again, these are already illegal under PECR).
> Although the GDPR rules are only for the EU, European citizens living abroad get the same protections.
No. GDPR applies to EU residents.
Someone somewhere is making a lot of money giving people terrible advice about GDPR.
> The GDPR requires companies to send emails to people on their mailing list who have never bought anything, asking permission to keep emailing them
Emailing those people was already illegal under PECR. GDPR hasn't changed the legality of sending unsolicited email to people that you don't have a business relationship with.
> "People are not opting back in," says Michael Horn, the director of data science for digital marketing agency Huge. "It's one thing for your customers who don't have a relationship with the brand to decline and not respond, but you're also losing a sales channel."
GDPR does not force a business to get consent for all processing. This is a persistant myth. If you have an existing business relationship and you obtained the email address legally you can rely on legitimate interests.
> "You never read the terms and conditions when you sign up for some website.
GDPR requires companies to make their T&Cs a lot simpler and clearer. This is a good thing. If you know people aren't reading your T&Cs how can you expect those people to be bound by them?
> Under these regulations, companies are relatively free to send emails to customers who have purchased something from them. But sending email to non-customers is common practice in the email marketing world. A lot of companies ask for email addresses when you visit their web site, even if you don't buy anything. Others buy email lists from third parties.
This is what people are defending. Sending junk email to addresses that you've bought. Getting someone's email address for one purpose and use it for another. (And, again, these are already illegal under PECR).
> Although the GDPR rules are only for the EU, European citizens living abroad get the same protections.
No. GDPR applies to EU residents.
Someone somewhere is making a lot of money giving people terrible advice about GDPR.