I am sure over the past few months you have been receiving tonnes of GDPR emails from companies begging you to stay on their mailing list. Well, there is a good reason for this, and we wanted to tell you a little more about it. This new GDPR came into practice on 25th May 2018 and for us it means that our new website is fully compliant with this and is kitted out with a brand new privacy policy, cookies, and terms of service.
So, here’s all you need to know about GDPR, what it means for small businesses, and how we’re progressing with it here at Brett Snowling Electrical Contractors.
What is it?
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, and this is a law within the EU that ensures data protection and privacy. It’s basically an introduction of new rights for you as a customer that prevents your data from being shared where you don’t want it to. And on the flip side, a new set of rules for businesses that state what they can and can’t do with customer data. So, for example, this is why you have been receiving emails from companies requesting for your agreement to remain on their mailing list, as without it they are no longer entitled to have your data on their files, nor are they able to contact you.
What does GDPR mean for small businesses?
Basically, unless a company is GDPR compliant, they are no longer able to have access to client data. As a small business, you must seek permission from the client first. For example, here at Brett Snowling Electrical Contractors we collect client data and so it is essential for us to be compliant with GDPR, and as of last month, our website has been updated so that is in keeping with these new regulations. Before we contract their data, the customer must agree to the terms of what it is being used for, who has access to it, and how long for.
You may see that we have a contact page on our website, where new or existing customers can come become acquainted with us. As a result, this means that we have access to some of their data, such as their name, email address or phone number. However, with these new regulations, we would not be able to do anything else with that data, such as adding them to our mailing list, without them consenting to it first as this would be a breach of privacy. Customers also have the opportunity to cancel or withdraw our access to their personal data at any time they want.
How this impacts Brett Snowling Electrical Contractors
Our website is quite a key tool to our business, as it’s a great point of contact as well as the perfect source of information for both new and existing customers. It is packed with information, such as what kind of events we cater for, our menus and availability, of course our blog, as well as a contact page which enables people to get in touch with us by either directly emailing or calling us, or leaving an enquiry with details for us to get back to them. Because of this, it is important that our website is fully GDPR compliant so that we are not in breach of any client data and we ensure that it is looked after and kept entirely private in accordance of the clients wishes.
Furthermore, as we mentioned at the start of this blog, we also have fresh and updated terms of service, cookies and a new privacy policy so that we are in keeping with the new regulations and customers old and new have the ability to consent to use of their data.
We hope this information has been useful for you, and if you have any queries or are interested to find out more, don’t hesitate to get in touch via the contact page on our website!