Get informed; the latest public affairs developments affecting one-to-one marketing

The DMA is changing the way it updates its members on political and regulatory developments that directly impact your business. We will now be releasing a quarterly public affairs bulletin keeping you informed on the latest developments. To help save you time, we've summarised the headline issues in this article, but if you prefer to read a more detailed update you can download the pdf below.

EU Data Protection Regulation

The regulation is intended to be passed into law in 2015 but there will be a two-year grace period allowing businesses to prepare for enforcement in 2017. However, there could be further delays. The DMA has been meeting with the Ministry of Justice who has cautioned that the Council of Ministers negotiations may take longer than planned. The Council may not agree its version of the Regulation text until 2016, which would delay enforcement to 2018.

The main issues for one-to-one marketers are: consent; profiling; legitimate interest; ramifications for the e-privacy directive; and pseudonymous data. The DMA Data Protection Toolkit provides a clear summary of the main issues.

The DMA recently sent representatives to Brussels to coordinate our lobbying activity there, get a feel for the newly elected European Parliament and to watch Commissioner Hearings. We will lobby UK MEPs in the New Year with a view to influence the trilogue negotiations.

HMRC and VAT

The HMRC finally responded to the DMA’s request for clarification on how it treats VAT liability of ‘single supplies’ of advertising mail print that include the cost of postage. Unfortunately, HMRC’s interpretation of the rules closes down the option of using a single supply for mailing houses. That said, there is still no official guidance from HMRC and if this view is enforced it is highly likely that HMRC will be challenged in the courts.

The DMA has achieved its other objective, which was to protect members from retrospective claims from the HMRC.

FCA consultation on financial services promotions via social media

The DMA will be responding to the FCA consultation, the deadline is 6 November 2014. The consultation lays out clear examples of how businesses should advertise financial products on social media. It is relatively uncontroversial as it mostly reinforces previous FCA guidance.

Nuisance calls

The issue of nuisance calls from rogue companies remains a problem for the industry as DCMS has yet to lower the legal threshold for prosecuting firms which break the law. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) needs the power to act firmly against rogue companies and deter others from breaking the law.

There is more information available on the website on these topics which you can find using the search tool. http://dma.org.uk/filter/search#s_search

See the one-to-one public affairs bulletin Jul-Sep 2014 for more details and a full account of developments over the last few months.

One-to-One Public Affairs Bulletin Jul-Sep 2014