Has GDPR Endangered Our Privacy?

It’s been a while now since the new privacy laws including GDPR was enforced in May 2018 and we all raced like mad to make our businesses compliant.

I’m Beginning To Wonder if I’m Giving Away More Privacy Than Ever!

Every website I visit I have to click my way through any number of notices – a privacy policy, cookie policy, terms of engagement and say that I agree to them.

Do I read this long list of caveats? No, of course I don’t.

Can You Imagine Being the Person That Reads Everything?

“I want to buy some shoes but before I do, let me check that I agree with the terms of using this website”

10 minutes later

“No, I don’t agree, let me find a different website.”

I’m Clicking My Whole Life Away

No, I’m not that person. I just click and agree my whole life away and I wonder exactly what I am agreeing to.

Just how many times over the last couple of months have you clicked “I agree” to a huge box obliterating your screen just to get to a tiny nugget of information or maybe something as insignificant as shaving foam! (I’m not a big buyer of shaving foam by the way that was just a for instance – in case you were wondering.)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it feels like, instead of a website having to be decent (hopefully) and stay within some guidelines because if they don’t and I find out they might get into trouble somehow, things have changed. Now they can get away with anything because I’ve ticked the box to say it’s okay without even reading it. Seriously, I don’t know what I’ve agreed to recently at all!

I’m Still Serious About My GDPR Responsibilities

Obviously, I have a cookie policy, privacy policy and terms of engagement on my website. I have my Data Protection Licence and regularly read the newsletter from the ICO.

In fact, setting up a legal and GDPR compliant mailing list is one of my core services. However, I do not, and will not have an over the top pop-up that you have no chance of reading through before you land on one of my pages.

Neither does the ICO. They have a cookie policy pop-up and that’s it.

What Is On Your Website?

What will happen if I land on your website? Do you have a massive pop-up box or a straightforward link to the cookie-policy with everything else in a link in your footer? Is it easy for me to view your website? Because, if it is, I’m more likely to read what you have to say or buy from you.

GDPR Is In Place To Protect Our Privacy

GDPR is there to protect our policy. As business owners therefore, it is up to us to be responsible and protect the privacy of our website users. In the blog The One Thing You Need To Know About GDPR I emphasise we should treat others as we want to be treated. If we do this we will be more successful.