This post on GDPR is a collaboration with Accelerate Places.

New data protection rules, also known as the GDPR, come into effect from the 25th May 2018. With this date swiftly approaching, it’s time to work out how the GDPR will affect you, and the marketing work that you do for your clients. The team over at coworking space provider Accelerate Places have put together a simple cheat sheet to introduce you to the basics of the GDPR for marketers. Take a look below!

How will GDPR affect freelancers?

This simple introduction outlines how marketing tasks will be affected by the GDPR, but you should be aware of how the GDPR could affect your wider freelancing too.

Customer data

If you have access to customer data of a freelance client, such as a CRM or a email marketing list, you must make sure you are aware of, and abide by, your client’s data protection policies. Make sure to ask for a copy of these up front, and have a read through to make sure there aren’t any glaring errors or omissions in them that may leave you liable to investigation.

Keeping information safe

No matter whether it’s client data, or data about their customers that you have access to, you need to make sure you’re scrupulous about keeping data safe. Make sure to always lock your laptop before leaving it anywhere, use secure passwords, and enable two-factor authentication on any devices or applications that you can. Data leaks can result in hefty fines, so it pays to be extra safe!

Saying no to tasks

When the GDPR comes into force, you may have to get used to saying ‘no’ to jobs or tasks. Many companies don’t yet fully understand the GDPR, so may ask you to do tasks which breach these rules. For example, scraping emails from LinkedIn to add to an email marketing list is not allowed under the GDPR, and buying email contact lists can also be troublesome too. Make sure you stay on top of the GDPR regulations so you don’t take on any potentially troublesome tasks.

Insurance

As a freelancer, it’s good practice to have a strong professional indemnity insurance policy in place. As insurers can be a little slow to update policies, it’s unlikely that your insurer will have a specific GDPR policy (yet!). Despite this, it is worth checking if you are covered for data breaches or legal costs in the event of an investigation. This will help you to feel a little more safe and comfortable should any issues arise in the future.

These tips should help to stop you falling foul of the new GDPR rules, but for more information, check out the guides on the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) website.

Other relevant posts

• Freelance tip: Get everything in writing
• How To Create Freelance Terms And Conditions
• The Ultimate Guide To Getting Started As A Freelancer