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The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive privacy law enacted by the European Union in 2018 that governs how organizations collect, store, and process personal data of EU residents. It establishes strict requirements for consent, data protection, and individual rights, with penalties reaching up to 20 million euros or 4% of global annual revenue for violations. For email marketers, GDPR requires explicit opt-in consent before sending marketing messages and gives subscribers the right to access, correct, or delete their data.
GDPR fundamentally changed email marketing by requiring explicit consent before sending marketing emails to EU residents. Non-compliance carries severe penalties: fines can reach 20 million euros or 4% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher. Major companies have faced significant fines, including Meta (1.2 billion euros) and Amazon (746 million euros). Beyond financial risk, GDPR compliance builds trust with subscribers and improves list quality - recipients who actively opt in are more engaged and less likely to report spam. Compliance also protects your sender reputation and deliverability with EU-based email providers.
GDPR applies to any organization that collects or processes personal data of EU residents, regardless of where the organization is located. The regulation requires a lawful basis for processing data, with consent being the most common basis for email marketing. Consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous - pre-checked boxes or inactivity do not qualify. Organizations must appoint a Data Protection Officer if they process large-scale personal data, maintain detailed records of processing activities, and implement appropriate security measures. Data subjects have rights including access to their data, rectification of errors, erasure (right to be forgotten), data portability, and the right to object to processing.
Yes. GDPR applies to any organization that offers goods or services to EU residents or monitors their behavior, regardless of where the organization is located. If you have EU subscribers on your email list or target EU markets, you must comply with GDPR requirements for those individuals.
GDPR requires explicit, affirmative consent for marketing emails. This means recipients must actively opt in through a clear action like checking an unchecked box or clicking a confirmation link. Pre-checked boxes, bundled consent, or silence do not qualify. Consent must be specific to email marketing, not buried in general terms and conditions.
The key difference is consent: CAN-SPAM allows sending commercial emails without prior consent (opt-out model), while GDPR requires explicit consent before sending marketing emails (opt-in model). GDPR also has much stricter requirements for data protection, grants more rights to individuals, and imposes significantly higher penalties for violations.
GDPR penalties have two tiers. Less severe violations can result in fines up to 10 million euros or 2% of global annual revenue. More serious violations, including lack of consent for data processing, can reach 20 million euros or 4% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher. EU authorities have demonstrated willingness to impose maximum fines on major companies.
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