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The UK GDPR is the law which governs the use of personal data in the UK. The UK GDPR has a vast scope, and its rules apply where a business uses personal data for direct marketing purposes. Understanding how the UK GDPR rules apply when your company engages in direct marketing is vital. This article will explore how the UK GDPR applies to direct marketing activities.
How Does the UK GDPR Apply to My Business?
The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) is the legal framework which governs the use of personal data in the UK. This law sits alongside the UK Data Protection Act 2018.
The UK GDPR prescribes the rules businesses must adhere to when handling individuals’ personal information. Depending on the nature of your business activities and how you process personal data, there will be several actions you must take to ensure compliance with the UK GDPR rules.
Complying with the UK GDPR is a mandatory legal obligation for businesses that process personal data. In practice, the UK GDPR rules apply to almost all businesses. This is because most companies collect or use some types of personal information relating to individuals—for instance, the names, contact details and other information about their customers or staff.
There are many rules to follow under the UK GDPR, and compliance with this law is not a one-size-fits-all approach. What your business must do to comply will depend on your business activities and how and why you use personal data.
How Does the UK GDPR Apply to Direct Marketing Activities?
Direct marketing means the communication of advertising or marketing, by whatever means, directed at particular individuals. As a prime example, this would include sending a promotional email to an individual customer.
When carrying out email marketing, adherence to the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 is vital for safeguarding individuals’ personal data. These data protection law rules apply where direct marketing activities could identify individuals. Essentially, if your marketing activities require you to use the personal details of individuals, the UK GDPR applies.
This factsheet sets out how your business can become GDPR compliant.
For example, this example email address includes an individual’s personal data: Firstname.lastname@ABCLtd.com. As such, the UK GDPR rules apply if you intend to use this email address for direct marketing purposes. For instance, to send this individual a special product sale offer.
A range of legal rules apply when carrying out direct marketing activities.
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Important GDPR Rules
Some of the key, specific rules to be aware of under the UK GDPR are as follows:
- You must ensure that your processing of personal data is lawful, fair and transparent. This entails adequately informing individuals how you will use their personal data for marketing purposes. A common way to achieve this is to explain this in your Privacy Policy document by including a section addressing how you will process personal data for marketing purposes. This is necessary to process personal data transparently.
- If you wish to share an individual’s data with third parties for marketing purposes, you must tell the individual. You will likely need to obtain their explicit consent to do so. This can be high-risk, and you should take legal advice on this activity if necessary.
- Ensure you have considered and documented an appropriate lawful basis for processing personal data when using such data for marketing purposes. A lawful basis is the relevant legal reason (permitted under the UK GDPR) your business relies upon to process a particular type of personal data. Consent or legitimate interests are the most relied upon lawful bases for direct marketing.
- You should ensure that all individuals have the right to opt-out of receiving direct marketing from your business. All individual data subjects must be informed about their right to object to marketing from the outset. If an individual objects to you using their data to send them marketing communications, you must stop doing so, and you should keep a record of this.
In addition to the rules above, a range of other data protection law rules could apply depending on how you intend to process personal data. You should seek legal advice if you require support understanding your legal obligations when carrying out direct marketing.
Are There Any Other Legal Rules Which Apply to Direct Marketing?
While many businesses are familiar with the UK GDPR, there often needs to be more awareness of the rules established by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). PECR works alongside the UK GDPR to uphold privacy rights, particularly in electronic communications.
Compliance with PECR is also mandatory, encompassing various rules to safeguard privacy rights in electronic communications.
Understanding and adhering to the rules under PECR when carrying out direct marketing activities is vital, as this is the key law governing direct marketing. See more about this in our article: https://legalvision.co.uk/data-privacy-it/electronic-telephone-marketing/.
Where direct marketing activities involve processing personal data, businesses must comply with the UK GDPR and PECR rules. The various rules to follow can be complicated to understand in practice. You should seek legal advice if your business requires support navigating these rules.
Key Takeaways
Understanding the legal rules that apply to direct marketing activities is essential. If your marketing activities involve the processing of personal data, the UK GDPR rules will apply. For instance, you should tell individuals you intend to use their personal data for direct marketing.
As well as UK GDPR, you must comply with the PECR when carrying out direct marketing activities. If you require advice on your legal obligations, you can work with a data protection lawyer to support your business and guide you on what actions you need to take to comply.
If you need legal advice on the UK GDPR, LegalVision’s experienced data, privacy and IT lawyers can assist you as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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