There is a
difference between contacting a customer with information and contacting a
customer with marketing material, so it is important to know what category your
correspondence falls into.
Contacting
to Inform:
Whether you
have consent or not, you can still contact your customers with information
about their account. This means that you are still within your rights to
contact customers to inform them about things, such as changes to the website
or the way their account operates.
Contacting
to Market:
The
rules are slightly more complicated when it comes to sending out marketing
content to customers. Where possible, you should always try and gain consent
for marketing. It is, however, our belief that if you are contacting a customer
with some marketing information relating to a service they have already signed
up for (i.e. asking if a landlord would like to re-advertise), then you do not
need explicit consent as it comes under the “soft opt-in” exception*. This applies
only to existing customers who haven’t unsubscribed and have an account that is
still active. This does not mean you can send out unrelated marketing material
(e.g. company merchandise or marketing for third-parties).
What are we
doing to make this distinction clearer when using our software?
We are working on a feature that makes easier for Landlords to opt-in to
marketing emails, if you decide to send them.
At the
moment, there is no marketing option, but it may become useful to you going
forward. So, we have decided that we will be updating the settings to reflect
this distinction between marketing emails and other content.
A section will also be added to the bottom of any emails you send out,
offering Landlords the opportunity to change their settings and opt-in to
marketing.
At the moment, Landlords can amend their settings when logged into their
account, but we think adding this information to the bottom of emails will make
it clearer to landlords, and easier for you to manage.
When you
send an email, you will have the option to decide whether it is marketing or
information.
Keep an eye
out for more details on when this function becomes active.
Key points
to Remember:
- Consent
is not the only lawful basis for processing data. Other valid reasons are:
because you have or are are negotiating a contract with the Data Subject;
because you are under legal obligation to do so; because you have a vital
interest to protect someone (this is unlikely to be relevant in the context
of our software); because it is in the public interest or covers a public
function set out in law; or because you have a legitimate interest to do
so.
- You are
entitled to send your customers key information, regardless of whether
they have provided consent.
- Certain
marketing exceptions can be categorised as a “soft opt-in”.
- You
must still provide the option for customers to opt-out/unsubscribe from
direct marketing, and you must keep a record of this.
*This
is our belief, and we are waiting for further clarification from the ICO.