I’m sure you’re feeling pretty annoyed by now. Your inbox has probably received dozens, if not hundreds, of GDPR-related opt-in or “Privacy Policy” update emails.
As you can probably tell from that flood of emails, the GDPR updates should not be taken lightly.
With so many security concerns and privacy-related issues in the world right now, I see GDPR as the first step toward a more harmonious way for data to be gathered and for honest transactions to ensue online.
If you are a consumer, you can use this opportunity to opt-out of any of the email newsletters you don’t actually want to receive anymore. You could also strengthen your privacy settings in your browser or move over to the amazing Brave browser.
If you’re a company, it’s already a bit too late to start doing something. By now, hopefully you’re mostly prepared. Technically companies have until tomorrow, May 25th, to get into compliance with GDPR.
If you have customers or users in Europe, you must comply with GDPR. Many smart forward-thinking companies, though, are taking the approach that they will be GDPR compliant with ALL of their customers, regardless of their geography.
This is in line with the “only do it once strategically” for when these rules apply to everyone on the web eventually.
My hope is that the US and other countries copy some of the better parts of GDPR, but disregard some of the heavier unnecessary elements of it.
Don’t expect your email or inbound marketing revenue to be up for the next few quarters. Customers will have to opt back in and startups everywhere will be sending far fewer promotional emails out.
In my opinion, that’s a justifiable price to pay for a giant step toward better user rights. Now, let’s keep moving in that same direction.