GDPR, the EU law that regulates how businesses handle personal data, will take full effect in May of 2018. Since this date is just around the corner, GDPR has been a popular topic of conversation among marketing and sales professionals.
Because the new law will give consumers more say over what companies can do with their personal information, it will impact many businesses that use data for marketing and sales purposes — including Showpad. As a result, we’ve made several updates to our product capabilities that are anticipated to go live end of Q1 of 2018, ensuring the necessary requirements are met by the time the regulation goes into full effect.
What is GDPR?
Before diving into Showpad’s product updates, it is important to note the goals behind GDPR.
First, the EU wants to give consumers more control over how their personal data is used. The current law was put in place before recent cloud technology advancements that make it easier for companies to access and use consumer data. With the new law, the EU hopes to regain consumer trust in an age where data exploitation has become common.
Second, the EU wants to give businesses simple and clear rules for the use of consumer data, and make the regulation identical throughout the EU to avoid claims of misunderstanding and confusion.
Businesses need to be ready. Consumer and business data will always play an important role in the practice of sales and marketing, so companies that conduct business in the EU must learn how to collect and analyze this data ethically and adhere to the new regulation.
Here’s an overview of Showpad’s expanded product offerings that will ensure our use of data remains ethical under the new regulation.
Dedicated Privacy Settings Page
A new Privacy Settings page will replace our existing Disclaimer & Securities Settings page in the online platform. The new page gives Showpad customers the power to adjust privacy settings in the following three categories:
- General privacy settings: Within the new Privacy Settings page, Showpad account owners or privacy officers have more granular possibilities to set the privacy settings in the way they require.
- Showpad prospect privacy settings: Another feature of the new Privacy Settings page will be dedicated to all settings related to prospects, or recipients of content shared by Showpad Users. GDPR requires that consent is obtained from the prospects in an active and informed manner before interactions can be tracked with the content shared through Showpad. Depending on the actual setting, Showpad prospects receiving content from a Showpad user will be invited to give consent, while at the same time receiving high level information about the type of processing and the ability to have access to the applicable privacy policy. In case of an updated privacy policy, the Showpad account owners or privacy officers will be able to request consent again.
- Showpad user privacy settings: Showpad users must also provide their consent in an active and informed manner before interactions can be tracked with the content made available through Showpad.
The Right to be Forgotten in Showpad
Another option provided to both Showpad users and prospects from the Privacy Settings page is the ability to revoke the “remember me” feature, which allows Shopwad to use cookies to track online behavior for up to 14 days. Additionally, users will have an anonymize analytics option, which will give them the power to anonymize data for any user group.
GDPR is an important step towards better data protection for both businesses and consumers. At Showpad, we’ve made sure that our product remains in line with the new regulations. For more information about GDPR, visit: www.showpad.com/gdpr.
