GDPR Facts - New EU Privacy Policies

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to make marketers earn their customer's attention in a way they've rarely had to before. With GDPR, companies will have to collect EU residents' consent to use personally identifiable information - such as email addresses, birth dates, government-issued identity numbers, credit card and bank account information, IP addresses, mobile device numbers, and biometrics - for explicit purposes. Moreover, companies will have to work just as hard to maintain the right to communicate in this fashion: GDPR mandates that customers be able to access and change their preferences at any time.

To assist you we’ve compiled guidelines to consider in relation to GDPR compliance.

Third Party Processors - Companies like Google, MailChimp, HotJar, Salesforce, etc. are considered third party processors under GDPR. They are processing a controller’s data on their behalf. Google, MailChimp and HotJar for example have indicated they are going through the process of becoming GDPR-compliant. In compliance, Google Analytics does not collect personally identifiable information and in most cases uses pseudonymous identifiers which under the GDPR is acceptable. You may wish to turn on IP Anonymization as a precautionary measure.  Hot Jar is offering features such as suppressing session recordings, consent for feedback modules and the ability to withdraw consent - visit podcast.  MailChimp is offering tools related to consent and individual rights to comply with GDPR.

Your Website Take a personal data audit of your website and ask what are you using the data for, where is the data stored and if you still need it. Check the respective privacy policies of your third party processors and enhance your website’s privacy policy to tell your visitors about how and why you are using their data, plus give them a way to request a copy of their data or have it deleted.

Social Media We understand that social networks are updating their privacy policies to comply with GDPR. For example Twitter’s recent announcement includes a statement that the Privacy update should not have any effect on Twitter accounts. Check with all your social network providers. 

Bottom Line: Consider the impact of GDRP today - the live date is May 25th. If you have serious concerns on GDRP and the impact to your business you may wish to speak to someone who specializes in data privacy legal compliancy services.