Your guide to the GDPR

Research done by the EU Commission found that the public had lost trust in how organisations were using their information. The Commission was unhappy with organisations that were building profiles of people, using their personal information, without making it clear. So, the new law was designed to improve confidence by making companies more transparent about their use of customers’ information, as well as giving customers some extra rights.

Organisations must make clear what they will use your information for and why. They also need to provide lots of other information, such as who your data is shared with and what your rights are. That’s why you’ve probably been receiving lots of emails around marketing and privacy notices.

You also have more rights now, and other rights have changed. For example, in most cases, the £10 fee to access your information has been removed. You also have a new right to have your information deleted if the organisation doesn’t have a good reason for keeping it.

The GDPR applies to your ‘personal data’. This is any information that identifies you, or could identify you. It includes things like your name, your National Insurance number, your email address, your location information and online identifiers like your IP address (your computer’s internet address).

Any organisation, in any country, which holds information on an EU citizen must comply with the new law.

We take our data protection responsibilities extremely seriously, and work hard to make sure we keep your data safe. We use your information to set up and manage any products you have with us, and to improve the service we provide. You should have already received a short privacy notice when we contacted you about this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). To get a full understanding on how we use your information you can see our privacy notices online.

As a member, you’re one of the owners of our business. We use your data to let you know about important information to do with being a member, such as inviting you to vote in our AGM and telling you about ProfitShare. If you haven’t opted out and we have your email address, we’ll also send you our quarterly members’ newsletter.

We use trusted third parties for some services, such as research partners. Before we launch new products or make changes or improvements to products, we sometimes conduct research to make sure it’s the right thing to do. We might also conduct research to ask you what you think of Royal London and our products and services.

We’ll never sell your information to others, or allow our partners to use your information for their own marketing.

Before providing your information to anyone, have a look at their privacy policy and see if you’re comfortable with how your information will be used.

Some online companies, especially free services such as Facebook and Google, build up a profile on you. They do this so they can show you advertising that is tailored to you and people with similar interests. Because of the GDPR, they now provide you with extra choices over what information they record and the kinds of adverts you see, it’s a good idea to have a look at your options on these websites and review the information they collect.

The Information Commissioners’ Office has lots of advice for the public that explains more about the common queries they receive and your rights.