Direct Marketing and GDPR – How does this affect you?

As we all know, GDPR came into effect on 25 May 2018 and these regulations represent a fundamental shift in the way we must treat personal data. 

SERC is committed to practices that protect students from harm and creating a safe learning environment that promotes well-being and security for all learners. 

Direct marketing

While the Communications & Marketing team undertake all main marketing activities on behalf of the college which includes both direct and indirect methods; SERC recognises that Schools occasionally promote individual courses for example; progression pathways from one Level to the next. These would be defined as direct marketing and under GDPR would be categorised as unsolicited marketing material.

There are strict legal conditions which must be met when marketing promotional materials to individuals.

You cannot email / text marketing information from Outlook or mobile, but you can from the Online App or Dotmailer. Both these systems have been set up to maintain the consent to communicate and the suppression list (those who we cannot contact), so as long as authorised staff tick the marketing box the systems will do the work for them and not allow contact with those who have requested to be taken off.

Under no circumstance should staff use personal or SERC email/mobile to contact students about courses.

If you are in doubt re the content of your message check with the Marketing team.

Changes under GDPR

Under changes in GPDR any direct marketing must have explicit, recorded consent in place as well as a clear record of suppression list i.e. those individuals who have not consented to be contacted. As information containing details of new courses; promoting the values of the college etc., can be defined as direct marketing under GDPR staff are not permitted to use their SERC email accounts to send this type of marketing information.

Promotional consent

Under GDPR, consent must be proportionate to the capacity and age of the individual and to certain circumstances. An individual’s name, video/audio/photo/testimonial can be considered as personal data and requires explicit, recorded consent to use.

Verbal consent is not acceptable  

Consent does not last in perpetuity and should be renewed at appropriate and reasonable times. An individual giving previous consent can withdraw this at any time and must be informed of this right to withdraw at the time consent is sought.

For photographs taken of students, staff members or visitors, regardless of the purpose, we must have consent before the photo is taken. Consent must be provided in written form before the photo can be used.

It is the request that any photos taken are in landscape view only. The internal College Intranet is restricted to landscape view and images that are in portrait view do not display correctly. Any images sent through in portrait view will not be used.

Images should be taken on a digital camera and staff are expressly forbidden from using personal devices to take images/audio of students. Images should only be stored on SERC servers.

How will the image be used? 

The member of staff in charge of taking the video/photograph will inform those in the photo of how images and information will be used. 

Photographic and video images used for promotional purposes include publication in SERC publications, website, intranet and social media sites. In some cases, images will be accompanied by the full name of the student and course studied.

Consent forms

Consent forms can be found on the Marketing and Communications team site which is accessible by all SERC staff or by clicking here. You can also access the Communications & Marketing SOP here.

An information sheet is included which must be left with the student/staff member, three versions of the form; one for individual use, one for group / class consent and finally one for Parent/Guardianship to consent for those defined as vulnerable or underage. Select as appropriate.

There is an additional form for withdrawing consent which anyone can complete at any time and submit (even if they have originally given consent)

Contacting Marketing

If you would like to have a story promoted whether it be an event, student success, fund raising etc. you should contact PR and Communications Officer Fidelma Glass who is responsible for promotion.

You can assist marketing by providing as much detail as possible regarding the promotion when you first contact them. Examples of things to include are: student names and course details, where and when this takes/took place etc.  This will help to cut down on the time needed to promote your story and back and forth emails to collect the information required.

If you are including pictures for use in the promotion you should also include scanned copies of the consent forms so they can bed stored collectively in case of withdrawal. You should destroy any hard copies after this using conditional waste bins.

If you have any further questions regarding GDPR, you can view the GDPR Handbook SOP here .

You can also contact SERC’s Senior Communications Officer Michelle Rankin or Records Manager Sian Harvey if you have any questions.