January 13, 2020

The ICO explains that all organisations have an obligation to ensure their direct marketing activities comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. The draft code aims to help those undertaking direct marketing to comply.

The ICO has previously produced direct marketing guidance and the draft code builds on this, as well as taking into account the input received during the initial call for views. The code takes “a practical life-cycle approach to direct marketing”.

It starts with a section looking at the definition of direct marketing to help organisations decide if the code applies to them, before moving on to cover areas such as planning marketing, collecting data, delivering marketing messages and individuals rights.

The code is out for consultation until 4 March 2020 and the final version is expected later this year. To read the ICO’s announcement in full and for a link to the draft code, click here.