Almost everybody involved in marketing will have heard about GDPR – the European Union’s new data protection rules that all companies will have to follow. However, there is another new set of regulations around privacy that will also impact B2B marketing.
This new set of regulation, dubbed ePrivacy version 2, follows on from the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations introduced in 2003 in the UK. PECR provides rules on how individuals’ data should be used when sending marketing communications, sending messages on electronic services and for storing website cookies.
The ePrivacy v2 is designed to complement GDPR. The updated draft of the regulation was published earlier in 2017, but the final text is still being discussed and heavily lobbied. While the EU team behind ePrivacy is anxious to get this finalised and launched alongside GDPR in May 2018, in reality it seems unlikely the legislation will be ready.
For B2B marketers, there are some changes that may affect their plans around data, and some important issues to bear in mind. These are:
- Marketers can use the data they have gathered today and any data they acquire – however, they will have to work on defining consent requirements related to the use in the future.
- Getting high quality up-to-date data will help marketers improve their processes in obtaining opt-in and consent for their lead generation activities and also make compliance easier over time.
- Concentrating on customers who are most likely to be interested in conversations around their needs will help – this is another reason for choosing a reputed data provider in the first place.
Marketeers will need to prepare in order to comply with the e-privacy regulation, especially in relation to communication with existing customers.
The draft regulation has been presented to the European Parliament and Commission and its currently in review with the European Council.
As by conversation between Andreas Splittgerber and Sven Schonhofen of Reed Smith it seems that a further twelve month grace period might be given to comply once regulation comes into effect.
