If you are one of the several thousand people who normally receive a printed copy of White’s World, you may be wondering why the June and July editions (Nos. 287 and 288) have not been sent to you in the normal way. The reason is entirely down to that piece of recent legislation that you are probably tired of hearing about – the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. The new law came into force in May and is designed to control the way in which businesses use the personal data they hold about individuals, as well as enabling customers to accept or decline communications.
Among the communications you receive will be some that you enjoy, others that are useful or informative, or even those that are important relating to safety and servicing of machinery you have purchased and other issues.
The latter communications are not affected by the new regulation as we, like many other businesses, have a statutory obligation to ensure you are aware of the need for servicing equipment at the correct intervals, safety issues or other matters such as recalls. Where the new law applies is for other types of communication such as news of events, new products, special offers and the like, as well as regular publications such as White’s World. These are normally considered to be marketing communications.
We know that a great many of you appreciate receiving a regular copy of White’s World and that you also would not wish to miss out on many of the events and offers that can benefit you or your business. However, in order for you to continue receiving these communications we are required to seek a positive ‘opt-in’ from customers.
In T H WHITE’s case, where there are many customers spread across several different divisions, this task has taken a little longer than we would have liked. Depending on the type of contact details we hold for you, you will either have received an email or a letter giving you the opportunity to confirm or decline future marketing communications.
We are delighted to say that the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with the great majority of customers opting to remain on our list. While this process was in progress we have not been able to send out the printed edition of White’s World in the usual way, but in the meantime limited numbers of printed copies are available from our counters and, of course, we have continued to publish the content of White’s World on our website – go to www.thwhite.co.uk/whites-world.
If you have indicated that you are happy to receive emails we will send future copies of White’s World digitally and if you have opted for post normal deliveries will resume with the August issue.
Sadly we are unable to send any further marketing communications to people who have not responded, although it’s never too late to opt back in; all you need to do is visit www.thwhite.co.uk/sign-up and complete and submit the form.
