Why we can all look forward to fewer emails – GDPR
After returning to the office from the holidays, you can always guarantee you will hear these famous workplace ‘bingo phrases’:
“So many emails to catch up on”
“Let me catch up on my emails and then we can have a meeting”
“I have literally millions of emails”
No doubt like many of us you will then switch on your subject line mind filter to determine which of the emails are irrelevant corporate e-greetings cards, which are articles you will flag for later reading, and which are those for immediate action from colleagues and clients.
Personally, I often just accept that companies have collected/purchased my email data. I certainly receive more emails from more companies than I ever remember subscribing to.
Well, that’s all about to change…
On May 25th 2018, the largest shake-up to the email marketing industry comes into force and, let’s be honest, it’s about time! It’s called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and it raises the bar for companies who collect and record your consent to receive those emails.
- It will apply to all global companies with European citizens included in their database.
- It protects all our personal data and requires us to be informed about who uses our data, how and where.
- It will be enforced with hefty fines for non-compliance (4% of company turnover or 20 million Euros – whichever is the bigger amount).
What this means is that after May 25th you will no longer have to wonder about how companies collected your email address. You will need to be asked to give informed, unambiguous, specific and freely-given consent through a clear, affirmative action.
What this means for me as Marketing Operations Manager at Malvern Panalytical is that my job just got a whole lot more challenging! However, it also just got a whole lot more rewarding.
Malvern Panalytical will be clear about how we use your details, and you can feel assured that your data is safe and will not be shared with other companies without your knowledge.
I know that many of you will consider not consenting, but it’s rewarding to know the ones that do consent would really like to read the content we all work so hard to ensure is relevant to you.
So, we will be sending emails to fewer of you in 2018! I do hope though, that after the next holiday season, when you are hopefully faced with a smaller and more pertinent inbox, that Malvern Panalytical’s emails are marked with that little flag for later reading rather than instantly receiving the delete key.
Whether you do or don’t want to keep receiving our emails, I would love to hear why. Drop me a personal email! I give you the consent to send me as much feedback as you like: craig.sagar@malvernpanalytical.com