Why are companies still failing to get GDPR right?
It’s so frustrating – you go to an event, you give someone a business card and bang! Before the end of the week, they have signed you up to their newsletter! Even worse, if they use their own email and there is NO UNSUBSCRIBE BUTTON!!!
Back in 2020, I wrote a blog on this very subject: Has GDPR worked
I had hoped that businesses would have learnt by now, but clearly not. And it’s not just small businesses that you could forgive as they don’t have access to in-house legal teams. But even the big boys are getting it wrong.
Take a recent post about Tonys Chocolate, which you can read here:
In early 2023 I visited them at an event and said they could sign me up to a newsletter (I will be honest, they promised me free chocolate!) But soon after, I wanted to unsubscribe. That’s okay; they have a button to let me do that. But it didn’t work – so I contacted them, and they promised to remove my details.
However, I have received a newsletter from them EVERY SINGLE WEEK since then, and there is no way to unsubscribe! I have threatened legal action, and they still say they will “look into it”.
It’s dead simple – you find my email address on your list and delete it. Simple. But no, I am still getting the newsletters.
So, I beg you – please don’t add people to your newsletters unless they give you express permission to do so, and then make it easy for them to unsubscribe when they want to. Don’t be the subject of someone’s blog post later down the line.
