GDPR advice for reps

Contacting non-members

GDPR – and marketing rules – cover electronic communications with existing members and potential members. It is important that Prospect upholds these rules, but they do not mean we cannot engage with non-members electronically – we just need to do so carefully.

The guide is designed to help us do our job effectively, in line with the law and to continue to build the union in these different times. If in doubt, please check with Tracey Hunt or Robert Lauder before you send anything out.

Key points about what you can do

These are the key points you need to know:

• This briefing applies to contacting non-members.
• You can use work-based emails (not personal emails) for non-members unless they have requested that you do not contact them. These emails need to include specific information about why they are included – see details below.
• These emails can include information about events, benefits of joining the union and issues related to the union.
• We can ask members to forward on emails to work-based addresses for colleagues and non-members, subject to details later in this briefing.
• You can contact new joiners via information provided by HR or the employer for the purposes of industrial relations.
• Restrictions do not apply to posting information on digital noticeboards or adverts on intranets and similar online employer provision.
• If you build or keep a list of non-members details this will be subject to GDPR requirements as you will be holding personal data. You will need an individual non-members consent to keep their name on a list.

In each instance, you should also refer to your collective agreement to check on whether any type of communication is allowed or not.

Unions have the right to negotiate on the following areas, therefore these are issues that can be legitimately communicated to members and to non-members.

• Terms and conditions
• Physical conditions
• Engagement, non-engagement, termination, suspension of employment, duties of employment, allocation of workplace duties
• Discipline
• Employees membership or non-membership of a trade union
• Facilities for a trade union
• Machinery for negotiation
• Recognition

A quick check list of how to contact people

Firstly, check with other reps in your branch that they have not contacted people first.

• If they have when did they do so?
• Where there opt outs? See The Right to Opt Out section below

Secondly, get the list of people you want to contact together.

• Think about how to divide up the list? Maybe do a letter of the alphabet a day to keep the amount of work manageable

Then, write the email that you want to send out

• Does it include the Prospect privacy policy link?
• Does it include all of the information you need to include?
• Check this email with your Organiser

Send the email out. If you are doing this in batches do a few emails out a day. Make sure to blind copy (Bcc) people.

Finally record the names of anyone who wants to opt out.

Work-based email addresses

We can only use work-based email addresses to contact non-members unless they have given explicit consent for us to contact them on another email address (for example by signing up to a petition or event with a consent box).

Whereas there are strict rules on marketing emails, work email addresses are not subject to the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations (PECR) marketing rules, although they are still subject to UK GDPR.

By marketing we mean any form of communication that talks about the benefits of being in a trade union, events we are organising or services.

These kind of marketing emails can be sent to non-members in the workplace, as long as you use the workplace email account (for example when the email address contains the company name and has either org, co, com or gov at the end). Also asking reps to pass on emails would not be a breach of the regulations.

However, any email address that identifies an individual will still be a personal identifier and therefore UK GDPR will apply, and individuals have the right to opt out of receiving these emails at any point. If non-members do opt-out, then you would need to keep a suppression list, so you do not contact them again.

What information do you need to include when contacting non-members?

When sending emails to non-members in the workplace, for the first time, it should include the following:

• Clearly identify the sender
• Clear information about how their data will be used for example to send further emails.
• A link to the Prospect privacy notice
• Clear information about how to opt out of further communications.

An example footer  of the information that should be included in an email to non-members on a work email address – please note that the text could also be included in the body of the email.

[Name of Rep]
[Branch Details]
[Email address]
Address: Prospect, 100 Rochester Row, London, SW1P 1JP Tel: 020 7346 0911.

This email has been sent to you by your local Prospect Representative.  We use this email to keep you informed about the work of Prospect in [name of organisation], and the benefits of union membership.

For further information about how Prospect handles personal data please see our privacy notice  https://www.prospect.org.uk/privacy

Unsubscribe

If you wish to unsubscribe please reply to this email, putting unsubscribe in the subject line.

The right to opt-out

UK GDPR gives individuals the right to object at any time to processing of their personal data for the purposes of direct marketing.

It must be as easy to withdraw consent as it is to give it.

Even if there is no written objection, as soon as an individual says they don’t want to receive texts or emails, this will override any existing consent or soft-opt in under PECR and they must cease, and the instruction should be recorded to prevent further communications.

Record Keeping

There is a requirement under PECR to keep records of consent to receive marketing:

Details that should be kept are:   Name, date opted in, what type of communication consented to, date opted out.

Suppression List

It is important to keep details of non-members who have opted out or not responded to emails requests so they can be removed from any further communications.  This type of list would be covered by the UK GDPR principle to keep accurate records. This is also permissible under PECR, as a suppression list has a legal purpose, ie it is required under PECR to ensure individuals are not contacted, and therefore this is deemed not to be for direct marketing purposes.

Electronic Communications (email, text)

No response to an email is not consent, and individuals who do not respond should be removed from any mailing list and added to a suppression list.

Soft opt in

Although marketing texts or emails can only be sent with specific consent, there is an exception called ‘soft opt-in’.  This means you can send marketing texts or emails if:

• The contact details of the individual were obtained during a sale (or negotiation for a sale) of a product or service to that person;
• Organisations are only marketing their own similar products or services; and
• Individuals are given the opportunity to opt out of the marketing when first collecting their details and in every message after that.
• A record is kept of individuals who have consented.
• A record is kept of individuals who have not responded or have opted out.

This only applies to commercial marketing for products or services.  Therefore, as we offer a service through membership of the union, we should be able to use this exemption. This exception cannot be used for communications promoting campaigns, aims and ideals of Prospect.

Organisations cannot rely on the soft-opt in if the contact details are obtained from a third party.  The contact details must have been collected directly from the individual.

To trigger the soft opt-in, all an individual need to have done is contact us to express an interest in taking up membership ie by asking for more details of what is offered.  There must be some sort of express communication about the services on offer.

Example:

Non-member contacts us about vocational training courses.  We can keep their details to contact them to offer them similar products, even if they did not opt out of marketing messages.   However, cannot use these details to contact them about joining the union, as this would be breach of PECR and UK GDPR, as the offer must be similar to the initial enquiry.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is when an organisation asks another individual to forward marketing messages to their friends, colleagues etc. An organisation would still be responsible for the message and it would still need to comply with PECR.

Another form of viral marketing is to ask other individuals to provide the contact details of friends or colleagues. PECR rules will apply and you would have to be sure that you had their consent to contact them.

If individuals are encouraged to send marketing message on the behalf of others then it must still comply with PECR, ie they must have consent of the individual to do so.

Therefore, a rep should be able to forward an email to a colleague as long as:

• The initial email contains no marketing information about joining Prospect or the benefits of joining, unless using a workplace address.
• The email is only to provide information about workplace issues; care should be taken with the wording any email;
• It requests permission to contact the individual again with information about Prospect;
• A link to Prospect’s privacy notice;
• An option to opt out of any future mailings.

For more information please speak to Robert Lauder