What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 3 December 2018

Welcome to another week and the countdown to the Big Day! We can't quite believe how quickly this year has gone, but certainly this time last year all of the chatter was about GDPR and were we prepared for it moving forward, following the law change back in May.

Here at Cloud 9 Towers we duly did our research and undertook training to make sure that we were compliant should any issues arrive, but six months on, has anyone really noticed any major changes in how we all operate?We are still getting unsolicited emails, and occasionally we do ask to be removed from lists, but we did that before anyway. 

The level of hysteria around GDPR which was a bit like that of the Millennium Bug a few years ago, has been embraced by some but clearly ignored by many. However the reality is that its all so complex that the formal legislation will take years to implement and enforce properly and however prepared we are, or think we are, we probably are not prepared at all.  If that doesn't make sense try reading it through in full - you would need to be a legal expert to truly understand it.

Instead of relying only on targeted advertising, marketers have been forced to rethink their approach and because of this, personalisation in marketing has grown. Since GDPR became enforceable, the number of third-party cookies found on news websites in Europe has declined by 22%, according to a study by Reuters Institute, meaning marketers really have changed the way they track consumers.

The fuller effects of GDPR are perhaps more likely to be felt much further down the line and months ahead as people either become complacent, or decide to ignore the law and its perhaps less of an issue on our industry as its very people focused and B2B orientated. 

Ask how many suppliers business cards any agent has and they will probably tell you hundreds if not thousands and most of these probably end up in a box or a drawer. However, ask the same question to suppliers and you will probably find agents names on a mailing list, whether they met them at a trade show or a forum or if they have been scanned. 

Ironically enough, we still get the odd email from a supplier where we are just one of an endless list of agents who have been cc'd in and we always wonder what has happened to the person who hit send! Did the GDPR police come and take them away?!

 

 With Christmas just around the corner and festive campaigns well underway, most mail houses are currently seasonally busy but we do wonder how Santa is getting on now he has to be GDPR compliant?

Have a great week #eventprofs

What's Floarting Around Cloud 9? 11 December 2017

Welcome to another (rather chilly) week and we are starting with a trip to London today for Paula, who is attending a GDPR Workshop today to ensure the team here at Cloud 9 Towers understand the new European personal data regulations that come into force next May.

 The existing Data Protection Act (DPA) will be replaced by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and this is a framework with greater scope and tougher punishments for those who fail to comply with new rules around the storage and handling of personal data - so really important for us as a business to understand.

We email customers, stakeholders, delegates and all manner of people all of the time so understanding the new stance on the storage of personal data is vital as is protecting that data from the baddies online! 

Recent figures show that in 2016, companies in the UK lost more than £1billion to cybercrime and breaches in data have given criminals access to names, birth dates, addresses and even social security and pension information.

Additionally, a recent report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) claims that SMEs are now more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals than their large corporate counterparts, as we are  consider  easier targets that some of the big companies with well-defended corporate counterparts.

This is one of the reasons that GDPR is considered long overdue by many authorities, and ignorance will be no defence for SMEs who fail to comply, hence our enthusiasm for ensuring we understand the do's and don't for Cloud9 going forward. 

One of the biggest changes we will face is around consent, as under the new regulations, companies must keep a thorough record of how and when an individual gives consent to store and use their personal data. Consent also means active agreement so a pre-ticked box is no longer sufficient and we will all need to keep a formal audit trail. Those individuals on the mailing list have the right to withdraw consent at any time, easily and quickly and when they do, all of their details must be permanently deleted, not just removed from a mailing list.

Should we have a data breach, GDPR will force us to inform the relevant authorities within 72 hours, giving full details of the breach and proposals for mitigating its effects.These new conditions alone – and there are many more – show just how demanding the new regulations will be and how the data is stored whether on a PC, a server or on a cloud. 

There's probably a lot more to it so at least we are taking steps to understand the new laws nice and early as the last thing we want is to upset anyone on our mailing lists or to receive a fine. 

There are some advantages to the new laws though, in that if you worry about embarrassing social media posts online that have been around for years, you can now ask for them to removed and hopefully it will stop a lot of unnecessary phone calls and rubbish through the post. 

Have a great week and just remember, when you are ordering online this year, you can opt out if you need to!

Ho Ho Ho!