GDPR and automated email marketing • Hacker News Board

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#31

Post by jahabrewer » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 4:48 PM UTC

zaat wrote: post #30

jahabrewer wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must not get Azure emails. > We've added new features to Azure! Read this advertisement! > ... > This message from Microsoft is an important part of a program, service, or product that you or your company purchased or participates in. Microsoft respects your privacy. > [Lack of unsubscribe intensifies]

The three dots you omitted actually have this relevant text: To customize what's included in this email, who gets it, or to unsubscribe, set your Message center preferences. If you are receiving this email because your Admin added you as a recipient, please contact your Admin to unsubscribe. Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our Privacy Statement.

No, they don't. The closest thing is:

> Note: As an Azure customer, you are receiving this email because we are required to notify you of product changes that may affect your subscription. This is the only communication that you will receive directly from Microsoft regarding these product changes.

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#32

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 4:51 PM UTC

atomwaffel wrote: post #28

closeparen wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spammers don’t tend to operate from first-world jurisdictions. (When they do, CAN-SPAM is decent about requiring working unsubscribe buttons). Spam is not a problem you can solve with regulation.

Sure, I don’t expect to stop receiving invitations to enlarge my genitals in my spam folder because of GDPR, but I’ll be happy enough if it discourages dodgy online shops and growth-hacky startups from automatically signing me up to their mailing list because I made a one-off transaction and “consented” to receive their special offers for all eternity on page 25 of their terms and conditions.

[deleted]

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#33

Post by s73v3r_ » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 4:52 PM UTC

zaat wrote: post #30

jahabrewer wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must not get Azure emails. > We've added new features to Azure! Read this advertisement! > ... > This message from Microsoft is an important part of a program, service, or product that you or your company purchased or participates in. Microsoft respects your privacy. > [Lack of unsubscribe intensifies]

The three dots you omitted actually have this relevant text: To customize what's included in this email, who gets it, or to unsubscribe, set your Message center preferences. If you are receiving this email because your Admin added you as a recipient, please contact your Admin to unsubscribe. Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our Privacy Statement.

Is there a direct link to the relevant part of their website to actually do that? If not, then it's not good enough.

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#34

Post by s73v3r_ » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 4:53 PM UTC

bigjimslade wrote: post #21

wpietri wrote: post #8

As somebody who has hated spam for years, I can only wish that I were in the EU. There is a whole swathe of companies that is somewhere between casual and negligent with email addresses, and it would be my distinct pleasure to have a stick like GDPR to beat them with.

Speaking in the larger context, this stick you feel you've been given comes at a high price. Unfortunately, it's only a matter of time before the powers that be will fashion a stick with which to beat you, too.

What is that price? That I can't be cavalier with user data? I'm just fine with that.

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#35

Post by whitepoplar » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 5:03 PM UTC

As someone who's tinkering on an app to send marketing email, I constantly struggle with the field. On one hand, I really think it helps small/niche businesses survive, which I think is critically important nowadays. On the other, nobody thinks their shit stinks, and man does it stink.

I'm curious--what emails do you actually appreciate getting? Would you subscribe to marketing email with restraints? (e.g. only email me when items in my size are on sale). If you could change how email marketing works, how would you do it?

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#36

Post by gruez » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

zaat wrote: post #30

jahabrewer wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must not get Azure emails. > We've added new features to Azure! Read this advertisement! > ... > This message from Microsoft is an important part of a program, service, or product that you or your company purchased or participates in. Microsoft respects your privacy. > [Lack of unsubscribe intensifies]

The three dots you omitted actually have this relevant text: To customize what's included in this email, who gets it, or to unsubscribe, set your Message center preferences. If you are receiving this email because your Admin added you as a recipient, please contact your Admin to unsubscribe. Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our Privacy Statement.

It's actually

>This message from Microsoft is an important part of a program, service, or product that you or your company purchased or participates in. Microsoft respects your privacy. Please read our Privacy Statement.

with no option to unsubscribe

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#37

Post by bad_user » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 5:13 PM UTC

whitepoplar wrote: post #35

As someone who's tinkering on an app to send marketing email, I constantly struggle with the field. On one hand, I really think it helps small/niche businesses survive, which I think is critically important nowadays. On the other, nobody thinks their shit stinks, and man does it stink. I'm curious--what emails do you actually appreciate getting? Would you subscribe to marketing email with restraints? (e.g. only email…

I only appreciate emails with special offers for complementaries of products and services I’m already using.

And whenever I receive marketing emails that I never subscribed for, I flag it directly as spam, although sometimes I ask the sender, just for fun, the source of my address. They rarely reply :-)

I keep my Inbox clean because otherwise I’m missing important messages. If it’s not important, it doesn’t belong in my Inbox. If I don’t know the sender and it tries to sell me something, it’s spam. If I don’t remember subscribing, it’s spam.

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#38

Post by merinowool » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 5:15 PM UTC

throwawayReply wrote: post #11

canadianwriter wrote: post #7

As someone who doesn't deal with Europe much... CASL here in Canada seems to have similar rules. Would following CASL automatically mean it follows GDPR?

The UK has had data protection laws for years, people aren't scared of GDPR because it finally provides laws, they're scared because they actually look enforceable.

I think people are scared because legislation is unclear.

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#39

Post by floatrock » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 5:16 PM UTC

cakeface wrote: post #18

hartator wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to break it to you, but having live both in EU, and now in the US, I still got more email spam from France. Laws like this are broad and overreaching, but they are rarely enforced.

GDPR has much higher punishments for breaking it than previous EU privacy laws. Many companies are taking the legislation seriously due to this. I expect GDPR to be actually useful in moving the line for privacy.

For these kinds of violations, fines can be "up to €20 million, or 4% of the worldwide annual revenue of the prior financial year, whichever is higher"

https://www.gdpreu.org/compliance/fines-and-penalties/

Re: GDPR and automated email marketing

#40

Post by return1 » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 5:24 PM UTC

This is going to be fun when election times come in europe. Here we get a lot of unsolicited email from candidate MPs , and i m certain most of them bought/found the addresses from dubious/illegal sources.