The soft opt-in exemption under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2003 can be a really useful tool to boost your electronic mail (e.g. email, sms) marketing. It allows you to send electronic mail marketing without needing to comply with all of the GDPR consent requirements. In order to use the exemption the following elements all need to be present:
- You got the individual’s contact details from the individual themselves.
- You have an existing relationship with the individual – i.e. the contact details were obtained when the individual either purchased or negotiated to purchase a product or service from your organisation (e.g. signing up to a free trial of a product or making an email enquiry about purchasing your services).
- The marketing messages sent under the soft opt-in exemption relate to your similar products or services. For example, if the individual buys clothes from a clothes retailer, they cannot then send the individual marketing relating to car insurance products.
- When the individual’s details are collected the individual is given a clear and simple way to opt out of future marketing communications. E.g. by a prominent tick box to opt-out.
- Whenever you send communications thereafter, the individual is given a clear and simple way to opt out of marketing communications. This might be a prominent unsubscribe link. You must not charge individuals to unsubscribe (other than the cost of the message to do so if relevant).
It is important to note that the soft opt-in exemption is not available for fundraising or campaigning and remember that if dealing with personal data, there are other requirements relating to processing under data protection law which must be complied with.
For more information on the soft opt-in exemption and advice on how you can use this, please get in touch by emailing hello@hellodpo.com
