So you offer stuff on your Website? Then you Want to Know: What is GDPR and How does it Affect you? (VERY IMPORTANT INFO)
This is NOT a sexy episode…YOU NEED TO READ IT in its Entirety! Are you a blogger, or sell anything via a web-page, have an Etsy, Shopify or any kind of eCommerce Store? This Post is For You. You must be wondering why are they so serious and what is GDPR?
Or are you one of those who hasn’t even heard about GDPR and how it might affect you? Maybe you are even wondering; what are they on about today?
Worry not we got you covered, so…..
What is GDPR and How does it Affect you?
Whats Involved:
|
Here is the thing, GDPR is NOT NEW…What? Yup, and the may 25th deadline is not a result of the Mark Zuckerberg Grilling!
GDPR was adopted by the European Parliament in April 2016 with a compliance implementation period of 2 years…So it becomes enforceable come May 25th 2018!
And regardless of whether your organisation is situated in the EU or not, as long as you trade with or collect information from EU citizens the GDPR will affect you!
Yet ever since I heard about GDPR it seems to have become a dreaded phrase.
So we did some research, and have been on a cleansing and updating spree. Trust me it has been some work updating every single Web page we own to get legally compliant before 25th May 2018, when it all kicks off.
Being the legal mind in the partnership, I had to have read over 300 pages of legalese and even I dont enjoy that…So I didn’t!
So, you must be tired of asking:
What is GDPR Julie already and why should I care? First Go get the full legal deets right here…
If you are a business, a Brand, small business owner, blogger, online marketer based in UK, you will need to ensure you are not eligible to register with the ICO. So visit the above Website asap. All business must check and register if eligible, as long as you process or collect people’s data online or digitally.
Now GDPR Stands for General Data Protection Regulation …Phew that was a mouthful, lets stick to GPDR shall we!
Understand that GDPR has been around for a while. Its all that stuff to do with data protection. All that sensitive customer or subscriber information held by businesses and how to keep it. This is because it causes all kinds of stuff like risk, data protection sharing etc! Now Facebook wanted to be a lone wolf and do its own thing with no regulation, but that party of over I am afraid!
[clickToTweet tweet=”What is GDPR already and why should you care? #getgdprcompliant” quote=”What is GDPR Julie already and why should you care?”]
Here is the backstory, if you watched the Mark Zuckerberg senate grilling, you know about the Cambridge Analytica Scandal! And then lots of people thought that the fall out is the GDPR. Not true, although every webmaster in Europe who sells or promotes anything that requires people to share their details or pay online must Comply with these new rules.
I guarantee you that even if you are not in Europe, but potentially or have European customers, clients, subscribers, then you are gonna have t get GDPR compliant…So you dont get off easy mate!
If you are running Facebook Adverts of any kind, you definitely are gonna have to get compliant in europe or not.
Trust me this whole GDPR is a lot of complicated legal mumbo-jumbo to most. So, even if I have a legal background, I will not try and reinvent the wheel. Instead, I consulted and learnt some details from my Facebook Ads Coach Catherine Howell. I did more research and put together for you the low down below!
The Lowdown on DGPR:
All it means is you gotta be a wee bit smarter if you are trading in the EU or trading with anyone in the EU!
Don’t game the system, Be OPEN About what you collect, keep, sell and serve to your subscribers and customers esp. if you advertise!
#1. GET LEGAL ADVICE – It means having someone in the Legal know how look at your online house and clean up for ya. Feel free to reach out to Jules Web Design Solutions to help you out!
#2. BE EXTRA SPECIFIC – Come May 25th 2018, there will be Stricter Regulation about email Subscriptions and as a Webmaster, You Now have to be EXTRA OPEN And SPECIFIC. This is about what your readers and target audience are Opting in and What YOU Are doing with that DATA or information!
EXAMPLE: If you are offering a Lead Magnet, Downloadable or bargain basement offer, you must also be VERY CLEAR On Whether You will be FOLLOWING up with people and make sure you get their consent to that as well!
If yo have Capture pages, You must State categorically what you collect, why you collect it and Have an Unchecked Box allowing people to OPT OUT of the follow up process! And If anyone does, that’s it, you cant follow up with that person…Sounds like all kinds of F**D up doesn’t it?
I mean people will be able to subscribe to your amazing FREE offers, your sweat ad hard work. Then Opt out of you sending them extra info about what else you offer or why they may even need it..Sounds like harsh doesn’t it?
Well tough titties my friend. Its that or you shut down shop and that 9-5 could start to look super sexy!
#3 Record Keeping – Okay your books need to be in order about: HOW People Actually Opted into your List. This information should be available inside your email service provide or CRM. We use Aweber and can access that info on our dashboard and Subscriber Tab. But double check with yours to confirm where this info is kept.
Now I urge you to reactivate your Double optin Option on your Sign-up Forms if you had turned off that service for your Lists…It is extremely important that people CONFIRM that they are happy to receive information from you. PROTECT THE HOUSE my friend!
[clickToTweet tweet=”It is extremely important that people CONFIRM that they are happy to receive information from you! #GDPR2018″ quote=”It is extremely important that people CONFIRM that they are happy to receive information from you! #GDPR2018″]
#4. Past Subscriptions – My suggestion is Take screenshots of Web Pages where you have had optins in the past. e.g. Landing, squeeze and Capture pages. The burden of proof lies squarely with you the business, blog or website owner.
#5 Current Data – This is the confusing and even SCARY PART. The GDPR implies that all old data collected has to comply with the NEW RULES….How the heck is that going to happen?
Well look at your Retargeting campaigns and get proof of how people get to reconfirm their original optins. If you have a large list. Well send out a quick email asking people to re-optin to your List with a new Compliant Form with a double optin option…You will thank yourself later.
Now is the chance to Clean out your list, delete people that haven’t engaged with your content for months! I can tell you that we are doing this!
WHATS IT THE RISK OF NON-COMPLIANCE?
Non-Compliance could land you a hefty fine of 4% of your annual turnover or €20 million whichever is greater.
That is a big deal to any business, more so if you are a small business. That could be your profit in fines. BUT, authorities will be relying on your customers and clients to report on non-compliance…Meaning?
You need to polish up on customer Care and After care Service…Am talking sabotage from green eyed, hulk-type skinned competitors!
[clickToTweet tweet=”You need to polish up on customer Care and After care Service… #gdprcompliant” quote=”You need to polish up on customer Care and After care Service… #gdprcompliant”]
This also means that authorities may be more focused on the more serious violations and also bigger brands. That doesn’t mean they will not lay the law down on a smaller business/blogger/webmaster if you are reported for breaching the GDPR laws.
WORD TO THE WISE: If you have bought or scrapped emails or data unethically. Its time to ditch the info and let those poor guys loose. Start building your email ethically and clean your house. Get Re-optins sharpish, like Yesterday!
Your income depends on it!
Some may think, bah all this for emails, Nah. And some are even crying “Down with email marketing.” Gahh
We at Juleskalpauli and JetSet academy Coaching Say, YES, we want cleaner emails and More engaged audiences. So It is a welcome change….! Build relationships, make them count and you will get better engagement from people who are more than happy to do business with you!
[clickToTweet tweet=”Build relationships, make them count and you will get better engagement” quote=”Build relationships, make them count and you will get better engagement “]
Final Thoughts on what is GDPR and Implications
So much scaremongery going around, so we just wanted to chime in and lay your mind at rest. Not our usual upbeat tone is it. Well we gotta play aunt acid sometimes.
If you feel concerned, dont know what to do, or are a little bit worried that you may not be compliant. We suggest you seek some legal advice and get your web pages sorted before May 25th 2018. Unless you dont do any business with anyone in the EU, dont plan on doing so and will never do so or collect any data from the EU for business related purposes.
Develop good business building habits and all will be well.
And that’s it, we just wanted to share what we have learnt about GDPR as we get closer to May 25th 2018. We definitely are not experts in EU law, so we highly recommend you consult a legal person if you are worried!
Recommendations for Compliance:
Download the 12 Steps you need to take TODAY to be Compliant – Do So Here.
We are definitely not experts in EU Law, yet we can Help You Create your Online GDPR compliant Assets – Learn More Here.
We can Help You become More of what you were created to be – High Performance Coaching – Learn More here.
Did our GDPR basics expose help you? If so I would great;y appreciate it if you commented and Share on Facebook.
To your Abundance
Live. Learn. Love
Julie Syl Kalungi
Creators of The Affiliate Jetset Academy – “Helping you Build a Lucrative Home Business From Ground Up”.
Here is How To Work With Us
P.S. CLICK HERE if You would like more Tips on how to leverage and repurpose your Facebook Live Videos for Online marketing success, generate interest and leads for your Coaching, Online or or Network Marketing business.
I’ve never thought there’s so much to learn about GDPR until I came across your blog. Obviously, more business entrepreneurs will benefit from these very detailed and straightforward guidelines. Thank you so much.
You are most welcome Jelena and we know you have worked on your GDPR compliance already 🙂
This is something I was planning to look into so I’m so glad I read this. I’ve almost finished my preparations for this – I don’t really take details for anything other than competition entries thankfully.
Hello Melanie,
DO feel free to holler if you need more help with GDPR Compliance! 🙂
Hey Julie, great information as usual. I was not aware of this and how important it is to our business so thanks again for imforming us. We have to keep up with so many things so this was truly a great reminder.
As webmasters and entrepreneurs, we have to keep up with the rules of play Shawne! Glad we could help! 🙂
A lot of readers are finding help here so we will feature this post again to reach more readers.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Thank you Kathleen, glad our expose on the GDPR compliance race has been of great help to many!
[ Smiles ] Thank you for helping me to understand this GDPR Compliance issue.
I just needed to read this! With the GDPR coming into action, it would be best to ensure our blogs are GDPR compliant for sure. I’m glad I now know what to do, although this will require the hand of an expert.
hello Dalene girl,
Glad you find such value in our posts and yes Get GDPR Compliant if you havent already got it done 🙂
Julie, thank you for the info. What I need to know is this: Since I do not sell anything, don’t run ads and don’t email my readers or even keep a list of email addresses, do I need to DO anything before May 25? (I am an Amazon associate, US only.)
Thanks for explaining this complex issue for us. I can be a mine field especially if we are blogging for pleasure not for dollars. I need to check my subscriptions now and thanks for the advice.
Very clear and very helpful! These new rules are must-read for any social media person or blogger. Thank you for bringing this to us.
Thanks for sharing this update. We still have ample days to comply.
Very helpful post!
Thats the idea Blair. We wanted to give you ample notice to get compliant before the D-Day 🙂 Today!
A very informative post about GPDR. I am sure lot of people are more clear about this term now.
Our exact Idea PB, thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I am curious if I am not making overseas sales or worried about things like that whether I will have an issue. This should be interesting. I know someone else just spoke on this recently and worried about my content, although all of my pictures not taken by myself are or Wikipedia commons or other free sourced material. Good to know things will be changing though.
That’s a great post and very well broken down for people who have not quite got the hang of it. As you say, it’s been in the making for a while, I’m just amazed at how people seem to be panicking about it.
Thats it Azlin, we humans love to wait till the last minute then we cry foul an the heavens are falling down …. 🙂
Wow! This is so crazy! I can’t tell you the amount of people who try to sell me email lists! This is so good to know. I love all the compliance and regulations you put together to help us understand. Thank you for this and for spreading your knowledge!
Thank you so much for explaining this in a way I can understand! I have been worrying about it and am utterly clueless!
GDPR is real and the fear of it is the beginning of wisdom. I think my website is complaint. Good information here.
GDPR is real and the fear of it is the beginning of wisdom. I think my website is compliant. Good information here.
Wow! This is a great and informative post! I didn’t know what GDPR is before and how it would affect me. This is really helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Helo Regine, glad you found the help you needed.
This was so useful and thanks a bunch for laying it down simply so that it doesn’t sound like Jargon. Also since the deadline is so close this is timed perfectly.
Thats the reason we put it put there Trisha 🙂 Enjoy being compliant
Thanks for all the detailed info! This was all new, news to me.
You are welcome, we are glad you got value in our GDPR resource, its now in operation 🙂
Bookmarking this post! Very useful and well written! You nailed everything right to the point!
Hey Lyosha,
Glad you got value and info on GDPR 🙂
Wow, I am amazed that everyday I’m online and interacting with so many different blogs, that I learn something new and valuable everyday. Thank you for this very helpful post on GDPR 🙂
Glad you get value from the blogsphere. that the aim right? 🙂
For once I understand clearly what you are saying (sometimes I just don’t get what I read.) Not about the work it takes to be ready but the subject at hand GDPR. I heard about it fussed for a minute and then my friend got me taken care of. I no longer have a way to keep any ones info.
GDPR has been so overwhelming lately but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it now. It’s been a lot to process but most of the companies and apps I use have been on top of getting it all set up.
Thank you for the information about GDPR, especially as we get closer to May 25, 2018.
Thanks for covering this topic! There has been a lot of discussion on this recently in some of the food blogger groups I am in, and some of us are still trying to figure out exactly what to do!
Well Panic no more and follow the simple steps to get compliant. It is truly simple 🙂 And good luck!
I had no idea what this was until I spoke to my IT person about it. I think this is a very good post and it’s easy to understand especially if you’re new to the term and what it’s all about.
This was such an informative post. Thank you for making it easier to understand I am sure so many people will get a lot from this post as it is so helpful.
Thank you so much! I have been trying to read up on this topic, and your post has made it so much clearer, this was a very helpful read 🙂
I have never heard of this but it only makes sense to be compliant with the rules! Will have to really look into this to see if I’m not breaking any rules.
Amalia,
if yo are trading in Europe and you havent got compliant yo could face some tough law keepers 🙂
Thank you for making it sound like everybody can understand it. Will also refer this to a friend of mine who is also maintaining a website for their business. We could all learn from this.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about GDPR, I think the whole thing is fascinating! Thank you for sharing your findings, this is useful information <3
This post is thorough, Julie! Thank you for sharing all these valuable information. I would have been utterly clueless otherwise.
There’s so much to consider but you’ve managed to make it all more simple to understand. This is a good reminder for all business and site owners and how we should all deal with our audience and we can improve our relationship with them as well.
Im so glad I read this. I planned on starting an e-commerce store hopefully soon and there is a lot of useful information in here.
Hello Stephanie,
We are sure glad you found us and got value, thats why we do what we do!
There is so much to be aware of as a blogger, thank you for bringing this to my attention!
Hello Stephanie,
You are welcome 🙂
Oh my! There is so much to learn and keep up with as a blogger! Thanks for doing the research and sharing this!
I actually had no idea that the deadline for GDPR compliance was MAY 25th and to be honest I am still struggling to understand some aspects of it. I will definitely look into ensuring that every web page is compliant and is not breaching any protocol though.
WOW, You really made it seem relatively simple. I have never really understood things like this as I often don’t understand all the legislation. Thanks so much for sharing this
Hello Sarah,
We are glad you got the help you need 🙂
Thank you for breaking it down for me! I am a dork when it comes to things like this.
Super reminder Julie! Keen emphasis on customer service too. If you bond with readers, goodness it’d be tough to be reported because your readers will be upset if you DO NOT reach out to them, engage, etc. But definitely cover your rear end before that May Day. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ryan
Hey Ryan,
Glad you got the reminder and some simpler ways to get your webmaster to get your site GDPR ready! It means spending some time going thru all your web pages but its worth it we know for your audience and clients piece of mind! 🙂
Syl