“We believe privacy is a fundamental human right. #GDPR is an important step forward for people in Europe and around the world.”
-Brad Smith, Twitter, 21 May 2018.
GDPR has been the business buzz-word of the year. Most of us hear it and are filled with visions of a cluttered inbox, brands and companies desperately trying to entice us to stay with them with offers for 20% off and upcoming exclusive offers. But GDPR is more than just a chance to transform our inboxes. For some, they hear GDPR and panic ensues, for others they feel safe knowing they’re protecting their customers and are protected themselves.
If you’re more the former, not to worry, GDPR isn’t too complex to grasp. It’s basically a governmental set of regulations that say people’s data belongs to them. So that means Acme Inc can’t email you every Tuesday at 5.33am if you don’t want them to. Nor can they – or any other brand or company – retain personal information about you if you ask them not to.
Essentially GDPR places your data back in your own hands. If you want your favourite shop to know who you are, what you like to buy and when you like to buy it – no problem. Equally if you don’t, that’s ok too.
But flip it around: