So now what?

How are you going to balance marketing and data privacy when things return to normal?

Don’t dig the hole deeper

Everyone seems to be doing it. How many emails have you received this week with a "Covid-19 update" subject line? Sent by businesses you might have had some kind of contact with at some point in the last 10 years. Dressed up as service emails - even though you don't actually have any kind of … Continue reading Don’t dig the hole deeper →

Bought-in lists are dead

The ICO has fined a pensions advisor £40k for sending nearly 2m spam emails. So far, so nobody-cares-about-PECR[i]. In fact the fine is pretty low for an infringement of this size. Why? Because the Grove Pension Solutions checked their proposed marketing scheme with a “recognised specialist data protection consultancy” and an “independent data protection solicitor” … Continue reading Bought-in lists are dead →

GDPR: you’re all getting it wrong

If I get one more email telling me that “GDPR means we have to ask you to opt-in” I think I’m going to go postal. Let’s do this slowly, and this time with feeling. Marketing (and fundraising) emails are covered by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2003. That’s right, a 15-year-old piece of legislation. … Continue reading GDPR: you’re all getting it wrong →

Hahahahahahahahahahaha

Oh you really couldn’t make it up. Recent terrorist outrages have prompted various European politicians to call, with more or less complete technological illiteracy, for encryption to be weakened so that the security services can spy on us more effectively. I’ve written about this several times, pointing out why this is a criminally stupid suggestion, … Continue reading Hahahahahahahahahahaha →

GDPR consent update (not really)

I wrote to the ICO to ask them about this consent theory that's doing the rounds. [TL;DR - you can use Article 6.1(f) of GDPR to let you send postal direct mail and make phone calls to people who haven't consented.] ...and the ICO said: Dear Mr Rapp Thank you for your email of 18 … Continue reading GDPR consent update (not really) →

Back to the future

Everybody’s panicking about the GDPR. Rightly. And the main thing in the GDPR that’s causing the panic is the requirement for consent. The GDPR is really clear that consent must be explicit and unambiguous – you can’t rely on the consumer having read an obscure privacy section of your website, or ask them to give … Continue reading Back to the future →