Unfortunately, when email was originally created, it wasn’t designed with security, privacy, identity management or any form of data collection procedure in mind. The recent Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal brought issue of confidential data to the forefront of everyone’s minds.
A lot of businesses have an active interest in the content of your emails. Companies like Google Ads use algorithms to scan emails and deliver targeted advertisements depending on common user topics. An example might be, if you’re discussing an upcoming holiday with a friend via Google’s Gmail you might afterwards see adverts for related purchases such as travel insurance.
Currently, when you interact with business online in some way, for example making a purchase online, you’ll probably spot a small tick box (which might be checked already) asking if you are happy for the business to send you further promotions etc in the future and another tickbox asking if you are happy for this business to pass on your data to third parties. If you agree to both these terms the business will send you an onslaught of promotional emails in the future and sell your data to other businesses who are likely to do the same.
How will the GDPR affect who’s using my email data?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably recently found your email inbox has been inundated with a huge torrent of emails from businesses you have interacted with in the past. You’re probably being asked to ‘opt in’ to receiving further emails from these businesses in the future. These messages are a result of a huge change in the way data protection, email consent and email security works thanks to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The GDPR comes into full effect on 25th May 2018 and it means organisations who currently send you emails need to confirm your consent to keep using your personal details.
If businesses can’t prove that you explicitly agreed to them using your data they could face huge fines of up to €20m (£17.6m) or 4% of annual turnover, whichever is higher.
To find out about how MailCleaner can help protect your confidential data and help ensure your business’ GDPR compliance, get in touch.