In the near future MoVerve will begin sending out newsletters by email – an action that for some people is inextricably related to spam! Nonetheless, spam mail and newsletters are clearly distinguishable from each other* and, to a business such as MoVerve, sending newsletters to all who subscribe is a useful activity.
I choose that MoVerve is trustworthy as an organisation and operates with integrity. These principles have clear implications for newsletter distribution, such as being sure that all recipients have chosen to receive the newsletter and providing easy means of unsubscribing at any time. Good practices on newsletter distribution are not hard to follow, but do I have other obligations?
My first step in newsletter preparation has been to look into the UK Data Protection Act and the website of the Information Commissioner provided what I needed to know. I found out that, although I will use computers to process personal data, I am exempt from notifying the Information Commissioner of this since the data is only for MoVerve’s own business processes. Nonetheless, I am required to meet certain standards in processing any personal information and also must provide a copy of the information that I hold about an individual on their request.
The good news is that the principles for personal data protection required by law coincide closely with good newsletter distribution practice. I need no changes to my plans in order to comply with the law. As examples:
- the requirement to keep only relevant and not excessive personal data is very much in line with presenting as few barriers as possible to people wanting to subscribe. If I ask potential recipients for all sorts of addresses, telephone numbers, preferences, etc. merely to send them a newsletter then I wouldn’t be surprised if very few bother to subscribe
- the requirement to keep personal data accurate and up to date is precisely what is necessary to ensure I treat subscribers’ wishes with respect. If someone requests to unsubscribe but my data is out of date or inaccurate then I might continue to send a newsletter to that person in error. Subjecting correspondents to such a poor level of service would break a lot of trust
- the requirement to keep personal data secure is, again, a major factor in the trust that I would like correspondents to place in me. If email addresses entrusted to me are passed on or otherwise leak out of my systems then I deserve no trust from potential customers and shouldn’t be surprised if they look elsewhere.
It seems that UK Data Protection Act is positively business-friendly – it encourages practices that are actually good for business!
* – apart from by spam filtering software, of course