When you own a business and want to successfully market it, you need to be aware of all rules that pertain to marketing. In some cases, those rules may not originate in the United States, but can affect U.S. companies that do business in other countries. The GDPR is one of those regulations that impacts U.S. companies doing business with anyone in the European Union. In order follow the GDPR you need to understand what it is, how to be GDPR compliant, and the consequences if you fail to do so.

Understanding the GDPR

The GDPR is otherwise known as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. It went into effect in May of 2018 and replaces the Data Protection Directive of 1995. The Data Directive was outdated and failed to address issues like how data is stored, collected, and transferred in the digital age.

The GDPR is one of the biggest data privacy acts to be enforced in the past 20 years. The goal is to protect the personal information of anyone in the European Union. That’s why U.S. companies are affected. If a U.S. company has customers in the European Union and collects personal data, it must comply with the GDPR.

To be GDPR compliant, all companies must abide by the seven key principles the GDPR sets out.

• Lawfulness, fairness and transparency: Simply put, you need to honest about why you’re collecting someone’s information.
• Purpose limitation: Be sure to stay true to your promise and inform your clients about why you’re gathering their information.
• Data minimization: To follow this, don’t collect more data than you intend to use. Under the GDPR, you have to justify the amount of data you collected. If you collect more, you may get in trouble.
• Accuracy: Make sure the information you’re collecting is accurate. That means keeping tabs and discarding any outdated data.
• Storage limitation: Keep the data for a certain amount of time for when you need to use it. Don’t intend on storing it forever. If you do, you won’t be GDPR compliant.
• Integrity and confidentiality (security): Keep data secure. Don’t let it get in the wrong hands. Doing so puts people’s confidential information at risk.
• Accountability: Make sure you are able to record and prove compliance. Under the GDPR, you need to be able to prove accountability at any time and show you are being GDPR compliant.

How to assure your business is compliant with GDPR

The GDPR is all about protecting people’s personal information. If you keep that top of mind, you’ll succeed in being compliant with GDPR. Here are some tips:

• If your company collects personal information to send emails or do any other type of marketing, then you must first get consent before obtaining that information.
• Don’t ask for information you don’t intend to use. This is another way to be sure you’re GDPR compliant. This way, there are no questions about what you intend to do with that personal information.
• Another thing to be aware of is that if you offer a piece of content on your website and then ask for the person’s email address in order for them to see it, you must be very clear about how their information is going to be used.
• Give people the choice to opt out of future emails and provide a link to your GDPR compliant privacy policy. By law, you shouldn’t send any emails to people in the European Union unless you comply with the GDPR. Doing so is a violation that could get you in trouble.

What happens if you violate the GDPR?

Some companies may think violating the GDPR will only result in a slap on the wrist. Not true. There are serious consequences for those businesses that are not following GDPR.

If you violate the rules of the GDPR you can not only can you face hefty fines, but you also run the risk of portraying your business negatively. It’s all about trust. Once you violate a person’s trust, they won’t trust you to do business with you. Be honest about why you’re taking their information and stick to it.

Mailing Lists & GDPR

Our mailing lists can help assure your business is GDPR compliant. Mailing List Connection can provide you with mailing lists to get your marketing going in the right direction…the legal one.

Mailing lists can also help you market your business to the right crowd. If your company sells hearing aids, you probably don’t want to waste your time sending out emails or direct mail advertisements to the college age crowd.

When you use a mailing list, companies like Mailing List Connection, use specific demographics to create your target audience. This increases your success rate and assures you are getting the best return on your investment. You can also be sure that any data collected adheres to GDPR regulations.

Are you ready to get the most out of your marketing efforts? If so, let Mailing List Connection work for you!

Call Mailing List Connection today at 469-549-4000 to get started. Find out why so many people trust Mailing List Connection with their marketing needs!