What will Brexit mean for marketing data regulations and data laws?

22 Nov 2016

Brexit is one of the most tumultuous political shifts in Britain for decades, Brexit won’t just impact holiday goers after affordable getaways in Spain, or migrant workers seeking employment on our shores, it’ll affect how businesses across all industries operate. Our own industry – B2B marketing – is built on being able to access and use marketing data. With that comes the need to adhere to data laws: laws that we have hitherto shared with the rest of the EU.

Even though the UK is set to leave the EU at the same time as the new data regulations come into force, the new laws have already been written into UK law

Britain’s departure date from the EU coincides with the enforcement of the union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Come May 2018, all EU countries will have to incorporate this new set of regulations into national law. The increasing use and value of marketing data for businesses on a global scale demands that current regulations are made more stringent. More stringent laws will strengthen trust in the use of marketing data, thereby encouraging its use further – only a positive thing for digital marketing. At first glance you might think that because the United Kingdom will have left the EU by then, the GDPR won’t apply to us. However, these new regulations have already been written into UK law by Parliament, and will come into force around the time the UK is set to leave the EU.

Whether the UK chooses to implement the GDPR or not, data regulations will have to change to keep up with the digital age

The UK has two options: to let the law come into force, or to repeal the law. If the UK decides not to adhere to the GDPR, it would need its own set of data regulations. These would have to match the stringency of the GDPR if British digital businesses wish to continue trading with business within the EU, especially as the domestic Data Protection Act was last amended in 1998 – well before marketing data was such an integral part of growing businesses through lead generation. In this scenario, it seems likely that the EU would demand a data transfer agreement not dissimilar to the Privacy Shield in place between the EU and the USA.

Armed with the data that will help them generate predictable ROI, marketers need not fear changes in current data laws

How will all this affect digital marketers and their use of marketing data? Given the high chances of GDPR coming into force in the UK, marketers should prepare to adopt a new set of data regulations (which would be similar to the ones we’d have to implement domestically anyway). If you’re reading this and worrying that these new data laws will affect your marketing budget, fear not. With data enrichment and analysis, digital marketers can tap into information about their target market to help them make the informed decisions that’ll generate leads and predictable ROI. And as long as you can demonstrate ROI, your budget is safe.

If you’d like further information about how data enrichment can vastly improve lead generation for your brand, download our guide:

Image Credits: ccmostwanted

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What will Brexit mean for marketing data regulations and data laws?

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