GDPR stands for “The General Data Protection Regulation” a privacy law from the European Union that goes into effect May 25, 2018. Even though it’s a European Union law, all online entrepreneurs need to be paying attention because the GDPR will mean major changes for the way we operate. If you use Google Analytics, Facebook pixel tracking, or have an email opt-in on your website, you need to pay attention to this post!
In essence, if you have ANY contact with someone in Europe through your website, such as downloading a lead magnet to get them to sign up for an email list, you MUST comply with the GDPR, even though you are in the United States and are only selling in the United States. You will probably need to re-write your policy page to show that you are compliant. Specifically, the way you collect and handle emails will require a change. Here is the simplest form:
1. If you offer a lead magnet to collect emails, you CANNOT automatically add those people to your email list if they are in Europe.
2. If they are in Europe and have not previously opted in to be on your email list, you MUST delete them from your database.
3. When offering a lead magnet, you MAY ask them to join your email list, but this cannot be the default. They must specifically state that they want to be on your list.
4. All of this must happen before midnight on May 25th.
Does this mean that you should be concerned and the CDPR police will come knocking on your door on May 26th if you haven’t complied? No, the law is to protect consumers in Europe against giants like Google and Facebook. But you do need to start implementing these proceeduresas soon as practical. Amy Porterfield recently interviewed a lawyer about all this on her podcast. I highly recommend listening to it:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/online-marketing-made-easy/id594703545
Read her full blog post here, which covers everything you need to know. Amy’s guest, Bobby Klinck, an attorney who does online marketing himself, also has a free course about the GDPR that you should take advantage of:
https://members.youronlinegenius.com/GDPR
Finally, thanks to my friend Debra Jason for showing me this article about the GDPR and how to avoid being overwhelmed by it’s affect on your website.
https://blogaid.net/gdpr-compliance-how-to-get-through-it-without-overwhelm/
Greg Jameson has been writing blog articles on ecommerce and internet marketing for over 10 years. Learn more about Greg at https://webstoresltd.com/about/
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