Goodbye to plague of (almost all) spam

IF YOU’VE spent any time online over the past few weeks you’ll, no doubt, have noticed a steep uptick in the number of communications from companies telling you how much they value your privacy, and asking you, very politely, to review the terms of your relationship with them.

The more sceptical among you may have thought it an odd coincidence that so many of the world’s e-commerce and digital marketing companies had suddenly become so concerned about the integrity of consumers’ data.

Your instincts would have been spot on. No, there hasn’t been a spontaneous global outbreak of soul searching among e-marketers. What’s at work instead is good old-fashioned self-interest.

You see, this past Friday, May 25, a law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect across the European Union (EU). It gives consumers a much greater say on how, and if, their personal data is used. It requires companies to get clear consent from users before taking their data and tell them exactly what it will be used for.

It also introduces some hefty fines for firms who flout the law:

€20 million (R292 million), four percent of annual global turnover or, whichever is greater. Now that’s a penalty big enough to make even the likes of Facebook and Google sit up and take notice.

Short of pulling all their business out of the EU, shedding millions of customers and giving up billions in annual earnings, these titans of tech have no choice but to comply with GDPR. Never mind the small point that these measures are patently the right thing to do and something they should have implemented years ago.

The more wide awake among you are probably wondering by now why a law protecting the data of EU citizens is making an impact on your e-mail inbox halfway around the world.

Theoretically, these companies could have chosen to adopt one set of privacy rules for EU customers and another for those elsewhere in the world. In fact, Facebook was said to be considering just such an approach. As it turned out, the admin headache and PR nightmare of going this route soon persuaded the social media giant that universal compliance was the wisest policy.

Google, already embroiled in costly litigation with the EU, was also quick to roll over and signal what a good global citizen it is. All other reputable players soon followed suit, sending GDPR rippling around the world.

So, what does the advent of GDPR mean for consumers here in South Africa? No more marketing spam – at least not from any company who wants to comply with GDPR. These companies now need your explicit consent to send you communications.

That’s why you’ve been receiving such a deluge of e-mails recently. I was astonished to see just how many e-mail newsletters and product alerts I’d subscribed to over the years. I’ve seized upon this as an opportunity to cull most of them from my inbox, singling out a chosen handful to keep receiving.

Thanks to GDPR, you will also now have a much better insight into the astonishing amount of data companies hold on you. How do you think those annoying adverts follow you around the internet after just a single Google search?

The new regulations mean you’ll be able to see exactly what data a Gdpr-compliant business holds on you and, so long as it’s a “reasonable request”, the company needs to supply you with that information within 90 days. You’ll also be able to transfer all your data from one company to another.

In a nutshell, GDPR means companies will have to be a lot more upfront with you about what information they hold on you, and how they use it.

Does this mean an end to e-mail spam and data abuse? Alas, no. There are plenty of fly-by-night operators who don’t care about GDPR and I’m sure some local companies who don’t have any business in the EU will continue to pester you.

But the internet giants that hold so much of the world’s data have received a long-overdue wake-up call. They’ve had to confront the uncomfortable reality that much of that data belongs to us, not them.

Follow Alan Cooper on Twitter @alanqcooper.