If you operate a business in the EU, you’ve probably heard the term GDPR a few times. This stands for General Data Protection Regulation, a new law that was put into place in 2018 by the European Union.
This privacy act has intimated business owners and marketers since the public became aware of it. It’s extremely important to keep your practices compliant with the GDPR because there are tremendous fines if you don’t.
Today, you will learn about some of the most crucial regulations and basic GDPR considerations when buying data.
The General Data Protection Regulation is legislation that protects European consumers and business people. This data is comprised of names, addresses, and any information that can be used to identify a prospective customer. Even though the Uk has left the EU we are still abiding by this law.
While this could be seen as a win for your everyday person, it can make life a lot more difficult for marketers and B2B sellers.
GDPR is an extensive act that includes many different guidelines to abide by. Still, today you’re going to learn some of the basic GDPR considerations when buying data so you can keep your company from paying large amounts of money in fines.
Perform due diligence on the supplier you are purchasing from if you are purchasing from a 3rd party
• You need to properly secure the data you collect
• You need to update all privacy disclaimers on your website, so the consumer is never in the dark
• You need to have a privacy policy on your website that fits your needs while maintaining transparency
• You should have a staff member dedicated solely to the cybersecurity of your clients’ data (this is known as a Data Protection officer)
• You must receive consent for any cookies you want to store on your customer’s web browser
• You must remove any person who requests you to do so
• Any Subject access requests must be dealt within the time frame set
If these guidelines aren’t followed, the results could include fines and a complete website shutdown.
Before GDPR was implemented, lead generation often consisted of cold emailing prospects once their email address was collected from a database. This has been a sales technique for ages, but it is not so simple now.
The privacy act strictly enforces getting consent before collecting consumer data, as well as informing consumers what their data will be used for. You must take precautions when buying any data lists from marketing companies. Luckily, you can find more information about buying B2B data lists here.
All of our data lists lists are entirely compliant with the GDPR—Our suppliers follow a strict GDPR email compliance checklist.
The GDPR is not something to be taken lightly. If you’re caught going against the guidelines, you could face a fine of up to 20 million pounds or 4% of the previous year’s worldwide revenue. It should be noted that you’ll be charged whichever of the two is higher.
When purchasing data for any type of B2c campaign whether it be email broadcasting, telephone or postal marketing it is very crucial to buy data lists from companies that follow the guidelines and receive consent from consumers before collecting their data. Using bad data could lead to consequences on your part, even if it isn’t necessarily your fault.
If you’ve read this far, you know how vital GDPR compliance is. Learn how you can make sure you’re always following the guidelines when you are directly collecting prospect data or buying lists from lead generation businesses.
Ask for Consent
• You are creating a client contract
• You are fulfilling a request for more information
• You have asked for the consumer’s consent
Following this guideline could be as simple as coding a popup into your website that asks visitors if their data can be stored and tracked using cookies
Make sure that when your provider conducts research and collects consumer information, they ask for consent to share the data with other organisations. This way, no consumer is blindsided when you contact them, and you aren’t violating the GDPR.
If you are using lead generation forms, make sure you include a field that opts in the user to have their data stored, shared, and used by your company.
It is crucial that your prospects aren’t unaware of how their data is being used. You need to state in your privacy policy:
• How users can opt-out of data collection
• Where their information will be stored, if they consent
• How their data will be used within the company
• If their data will be shared with other organisations
• If you’re using third parties to collect consumer data, these third parties should be listed in your privacy policy
You must also make your privacy policy visible so website visitors can find and read it.
To appropriately handle consumer data, you must ensure it’s safe. This includes hiring a staff member designated to protecting the data from cybersecurity threats that could expose private information.
You can also ensure that the data you collect is protected by encrypting your site with an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). This helps your users trust you and feel more secure, allowing you to collect and store their information.
The GDPR is the strictest privacy act that any governing body has ever enacted, so it’s essential that you comply with the guidelines. Otherwise, you risk owing large fines and possibly facing a website shutdown. This new legislation seriously affects lead generation, but that doesn’t mean it has to be more difficult.
AD Marketing offer high-quality B2B data lists that are GDPR compliant. If you’re looking to build your B2B email list, check out our website and find one that best suits your company!
B2b data has a different set of regulations to b2c.
Email addresses can be licensed for third party email campaigns as long as they fulfil the following criteria:
• Sole traders and partnerships are treated as consumers and are opt-in.
• Employees of corporates, ie. limited companies, publicly limited companies, limited liability partnerships and government departments, are provided on an opt-out basis
• Employees of corporates are given the option to easily unsubscribe or opt-out from receiving email marketing
Additionally, you must ensure that you give the recipient the option to easily unsubscribe or opt-out from receiving email marketing and that the product or service you are promoting is targeted to the right audience. For example, promoting a medical conference to an Accountant would not be deemed as appropriate.
Although AD Marketing telephone numbers are screened against the do not call register every 28 days.
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