This post is also available in: German
Who can miss that GDPR is imminent – it has been one of the best PR campaigns in a while! We have registered with the ICO, updating our Ts and Cs and Privacy Policy – which you can read if you are struggling to sleep.
What does it mean for you?
Love it or hate it, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) means you need to get a few things in place but, thankfully, it doesn’t mean you need to stop contacting journalists. When you communicate with journalists it is currently deemed to be a “legitimate business interest”. GDPR allows businesses to continue to contact people if it part of their core business offering. This is a huge grey area and one which experts say is going to take 2-3 years to bed in until we are clearer on the precise dos and don’ts, but it is this “legitimate interest” which is why Press Loft and PR’s will be continuing to contact journalists. At Press Loft we have the added benefit that our journalists are also registered and they choose to opt in to receive press releases via email. PR agencies and smaller PR teams don’t tend to have opt-in systems integrated. However, this continued contacting of journalists should be ok… at least for now.
If you are contacting journalists, one thing is very clear, you MUST have clear opt-out options on every single email (which we do). You must also store data in a safe and secure manner, update any data if it is old, keep logs of where you found that email address and be able to give this to a journalist should they ask (all of which we do). Above all, you need to be open about how you store and are going to use someone’s data. So as long as you aren’t spamming journalists and sending blanket press releases to completely irrelevant journalists, and have opt out emails on every press release then you *should* be fine.**
**Disclaimer… although we have read…and read… and read all about GDPR, this blog is not legal advice and we advise getting in touch with a lawyer if you have any questions!
