Hi all,
In Germany customer satisfaction surveys are considered direct marketing and therefore require consent. I would like to know if in Sweden, and Ireland would see it the same way. Can anybody help?
Thank you so much in advance
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Hi all,
In Germany customer satisfaction surveys are considered direct marketing and therefore require consent. I would like to know if in Sweden, and Ireland would see it the same way. Can anybody help?
Thank you so much in advance
Andrea
So, would all surveys also be considered marketing in Germany?
MPenot
I would say yes, not all transactions are remunerated financially however your organization wants to get something out of the survey. I’d go with consent in Germany.
Hope that helps
MPenot
Could you get into more details and explain what you mean by all surveys? In case you read German I can send you the link with the judgement that is also mentioned in Hellen’s link
Andrea
We are a membership body. We run surveys of our members to get feedback on our performance but also on what they see as the future of the profession. Unfortunately I don’t read German!
HellenB
The reason for this is that in Germany there is a double opt in requirement for any email communication to prevent unsolicited emails. Anything beyond direct communication about an order falls into marketing, not just surveys.
Email rules in Sweden and Ireland are slightly different: opt in to marketing is required for B2C purposes, but soft-opt in can be used where a transaction has occurred.
MPenot
Dear Hellen,
the double opt in is not a requirement by law just a best practice. And it’s rather to prove that the person that has opted in is giving proof it’s really them additionally to reiterate their willingness.
There has been case law in Germany saying that customer satisfaction survey is a means to increase a company’s revenue and therefore is considered marketing. One needs to take into account the Act against Unlawful Competition which takes over here because it govern unsolicited advertising.
Thank you for the information about Sweden and Ireland really helpful
HellenB
While double opt in isn’t legally mandated, I wouldn’t want to argue that particular point with a German regulator dealing with a consumer complaint.
This is the best explanation of why that I have found:
https://globaldatahub.taylorwessing.com/article/direct-marketing-the-german-approach
MPenot
Hellen,
I absolutely understand that you would not want to argue this point with a German regulator neither would I and I am a native speaker ;). The article references the court cases that I had found as well, but thank you for sharing.
PhilM
As far as GDPR goes, I would say that customer satisfaction surveys would be covered under your legitimate interest, provided you’ve called it out in your Privacy Notice. Bear in mind, that only applies for customers or people who have expressed an interest in your products (e.g. by visiting your websites), not random people from some marketing list. So no consent required.