Suffice it to say that we are all thoroughly sick and tired of hundreds of ‘please can we have your consent?’ emails flooding our inboxes.

However, the vast majority of emails from companies asking for consent to keep recipients on their mailing list are unnecessary and some may be illegal, following the introduction of the GDPR on 25th May.

Despite views to the contrary, businesses are not automatically required to refresh all existing consents, following GDPR. The key question to focus on is which of the six legal grounds should you rely on to process personal data. Consent is but one ground; the others being contract, legal obligation, vital interests, public interest and legitimate interests. In summary, even if you did rely on consent pre-GDPR, it might well carry over, and even if it doesn’t, the other five reasons to process can potentially be relied upon.

Moreover, if you lack the consent to communicate with individuals, you are quite likely to not have the consent to email asking for that consent in the first place.

The upshot of all this is that we might see some businesses being fined for these emails, although it is likely that the Regulators will allow some leeway if they can demonstrate that they have been planning for the introduction of GDPR (read this as ‘tried my best’!).

For more information on any employment law matters contact Hannah Strawbridge on 01484 821300 or at hannahstrawbridge@eatonsmith.co.uk.