GDPR compliance for email marketing centres on obtaining genuine, explicit consent before sending marketing communications and honouring data subject rights, including deletion requests, for any contact within the regulation's scope.
GDPR does not just require that you can technically unsubscribe someone — it requires that consent was genuinely, affirmatively given in the first place, which is a meaningfully higher bar than many senders' existing opt-in flows actually meet.
Yes, if you market to individuals located in the EU, GDPR generally applies regardless of where your business itself is based.
See our CAN-SPAM compliance guide for a comparison — GDPR generally imposes stricter, more affirmative consent requirements than CAN-SPAM.
Penalties can be significant, calculated based on company revenue in serious cases — legal review of your specific compliance posture is worthwhile given these genuine stakes.
If you want help ensuring your email marketing meets GDPR compliance requirements, talk to our team.
Ensure genuine, explicit opt-in consent and a working, easy data deletion process are both in place before sending marketing email to any EU-based contacts — these two requirements form the practical core of GDPR compliance most senders need to satisfy.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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