What you need to know about the Digital Economy Act 2017

The Digital Economy Bill (now act) includes provisions to (amongst other things);

• • Give everybody a right to request fast broadband
  • Simplify planning rules
  • Protect against “Bill shock” by requiring Mobile Operators to offer bill capping
  • Enable stronger enforcement of direct marketing laws

This Act has been rushed through before parliament was dissolved for the upcoming election.

A new entry has been added to the Data Protection Act (relating to Direct Marketing), requiring the ICO to release a Code of practice into law (link – Here).

In essence, the ICO already have the start of this code in the Direct Marketing Guidance, which until now has been just that – guidance. The ICO will convert this into the code (as it is already in its “consultancy period”). Therefore, Marketers are likely to see GDPR-levels of compliance for data processing and marketing ahead of May 2018, meaning that unambiguous and provable consent isn’t best practice; it’s the minimum standard!

Action:

This means you need to ensure:

1. You can justify the data you currently hold (can demonstrate a legal basis for processing, that it is protected, and that it is all necessary for processing).
2. You know where data has come from and consent – recorded positive consent (able to evidence).
3. Privacy notices are accurate – clearly worded (what is collected, why, what subject choice are, how it's protected, shared and deleted).
4. Review Marketing consent – ensure content in line with expectations (DMA’s email consent flowchart).
5. B2B Data is compliant – B2B Data is PII data and needs to be collected, stored, used, permission led and protected in the same way as B2C.

Please be conscious of these changes and what they may mean for your business.

Giles Kirkham, Information Security Officer at Occam DM Ltd (part of the St Ives Group)