With the constant noise about GDPR, the new General Data Protection Regulations, which come into force on 25 May 2018, we are re-running our podcast from December when we met with Mark Gracey, a digital compliance business expert, to discuss the implications for marketers from a marketing perspective.
This episode considers an explanation about what GDPR is and why it is being brought in.  Data protection applies to all businesses. So it doesn't matter if you're a one-man band or a global corporate - data protection rules still apply.
We explain how GDPR is actually going to affect marketing practices in particular and whether there are any confusions when it comes to good marketing practices as there are other regulations that apply. One of the key things that's changing that a lot of people are really focused on is the rules around collecting consent for the purposes of processing and that's very important if you're collecting prospect data for marketing purposes. But in a world of marketing compliance, it's partly about data protection and protecting that data that you’re managing but it's also about privacy regulations, which control how will you use that data in an electronic marketing perspective.

We identify how GDPR doesn't necessarily relate to what we may call good marketing practice and what in essence this covers.

GDPR has ramifications for marketing people but, in a general everyday sense, it covers every aspect of management and processing of personal data. So that's data that identifies your customers, your clients, your employees, or any other individual - it’s not just about consent and marketing. Data protection has much wider ramifications for business. It's about everything that you do with personal data. So if you have data that identifies an individual, be it a client or an employee or a potential customer, that data is protected by data protection and therefore GDPR applies. So there are much wider ramifications for businesses than just the marketing aspects and businesses need to think about the security of that data, how they use that data and how will they also meet the requirements of the rights of the individuals whose data it is. The big key thing about GDPR is it's about accountability. Can you as a business demonstrate your compliance?

Finally, we offer some top tips for listeners in relation to GDPR and marketing so that you can ensure that your business will be compliant. There's lots going on in terms of data protection but also in a marketing world, we're expecting the new privacy regulations in Europe and the UK that will perhaps change some of the rules around electronic marketing or have a wider scope.

The episode also links to a number of useful sites where marketers can gain further clarification and material on how to fit GDPR terms into their business going forward, in a GDPR world.