Big Topic Everywhere: The New GDPR Rules

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requires website owners to be transparent about how they collect, use and share personal data.  It also gives individuals more access and more choice when it comes to how their own personal data is collected, used, and shared. 

GDPR affects anyone who collects data from people in the EU, such as newsletter subscribers, freebies sign-up or purchasers of digital or tangible goods.

The law goes into effect on May 25, 2018 - which is next week!

It’s a European law that grants personal data rights to individuals in the European Union. However, its requirements apply to all sites and online businesses who collect, store and process personal data about individuals in the EU.

Wordpress, for example, offers a Plugin that assists website and webshop owners with European Privacy Regulations (GDPR) in English and German language.  Get it here:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-gdpr-compliance/

If you are using a trusted provider like ConstantContact, AWeber, or MailChimp, for example, you are likely in good hands. These companies are what GDPR calls data processors, which means that they have a responsibility with the data you collect for your email list. They will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. 

They are providing checkboxes to help you gain lawful consent. They might also create a segment for EU people in the back end of your email so that you can obtain consent from those people already on your list.

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MailChimp Newsletter Service Informs Their Customers: We are excited to announce that new tools are available to make your GDPR preparations easier. 

• GDPR-friendly forms. In just a few clicks, you can set up a form that collects (and records) the consent you need from your contacts.
  
• Improved contact management. The process of updating, exporting, and sharing a contact’s data upon their request is now quicker and simpler.
  
• An updated data processing agreement. We’ve certified to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss-U.S Privacy Shield Framework, so once you complete our new DPA and obtain appropriate consent, you can legally transfer contact data from the EU to MailChimp in the U.S.
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You might ask:  Does anyone read my privacy policy page?  Does it even matter?  Well, it’s a legal contract between you and your readers.  And now under GDPR, your privacy policy should be linked to in every form where you ask someone to sign up for your email list.

Read more details at https://createifwriting.com/gdpr-faqs/

and at https://dgkayewriter.com/important-notice-gdpr-effect-25-2018-blog-ready/

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