Legitimate interest for marketing emails

Answer:

The EU GDPR does not say that direct marketing always constitutes a legitimate interest, and whether your processing is lawful on the basis of legitimate interests depends on the particular circumstances.

In terms of the purpose test, some forms of marketing may not be legitimate if they do not comply with other legal or ethical standards or with industry codes of practice. However, as long as the marketing is carried out in compliance with e-privacy laws and other legal and industry standards, in most cases it is likely that direct marketing is a legitimate interest.

If you intend to process personal data for the purposes of direct marketing by electronic means (by email, text, automated calls etc) legitimate interests may not always be an appropriate basis for processing. This is because the e-priva cy laws on electronic marketing – currently the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) – require that individuals give their consent to some forms of electronic marketing.

So, I would advise you at least for direct marketing to have a cautious approach and go with consent rather legitimate interest

To learn more about consent check out our webinar “How to handle consents under GDPR” https://advisera.com/eugdpracademy/webinar/how-to-handle-consents-under-gdpr-free-webinar-on-demand/