GDPR Compliance with Appsmakerstore

For Appsmakerstore App Owners and White Label Reseller Partners located within the European Union (EU), or those with customers in the EU, you will probably already know that the 25th May 2018 is a big day. No, it’s not date of the start of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, that is actually the 2nd July, it is in fact the date that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect in Europe.

So what does GDPR mean for your business?

If your business is based in the EU, or if you process the personal data of individuals located in the EU,  then you have a legal requirement to be compliant with this new legislation.

GDPR Compliance with Appsmakerstore:

It’s easier than you think

Even if your business is located in the United States and you have customers and App Users in the EU you also need to be GDPR compliant in your marketing operations.
However as an Appsmakerstore partner you don’t need to worry too much as Appsmakerstore has most of the required changes already covered!

What is GDPR?

Over the last few months we’ve been updating our systems, processes and policies to help make sure that you are GDPR ready and minimise the “to do list” for our clients. Given the radical changes and restrictions for marketeers within GDPR mobile business Apps present a massive opportunity and channel for Marketeers to use to engage with your customers, prospective, new and old to promote your business, its products and services in a fully GDPR compliant manner. An early business mentor consistently told me that “with change, comes opportunity” and this is certainly the case for Apps in a post GDPR world and with this article we hope to tell you what you need to know and how best to use your Appsmakerstore App to make the most of the GDPR opportunity, including the steps you need to take now so you can continue to use the Appsmakerstore system to communicate effectively with your App Users using our feature rich App toolsets (gadgets).

GDPR: We are Ready!

The European GDPR laws are a comprehensive set of data protection laws created to update the current data protection laws that have been in place by individual member states since 1995. Since then the digital landscape has changed significantly in respect to how data is handled and used by businesses. GDPR is designed to provide consumers significantly more protection and rights for how businesses handle and use their personal data.

Are You GDPR Ready?

We’ve grouped all European countries together. Why? Most European countries, even those that are not part of the EU, appear to be implementing similar data protection regulations.

There are 3 main pillars that sum up GDPR:-

1. Consent to communicate with your customers is much stricter and their consent
requirements must be both explicit and verifiable;
2. There are much greater rights and controls for individuals over how their data is
used
3. Businesses must be far more transparent in their information about data use
information and businesses must provide more information on how they plan to
process or use the data.

Let’s understand GDPR definitions....

Q1. What is “Personal Data”?
A1. Personal data is any data associated directly with an identifiable individual, this can be a name, a linked postal or IP address or any data that could, with additional data or alone, identify a specific individual.

A Summary of What GDPR Means to You

Q2. Who is a Data Controller
A2. A natural or legal person or entity who either alone or with others determines how personal data is or will be processed and used.

GDPR Definitions – Q & A

Q3. Who is a Data Processor
A2. A natural or legal person or entity charged by a business with the processing of data on behalf of the Data Controller.

Q4. What does “processing data” actually mean?
A4. Quite simply, anyone who personally or on behalf of someone else collects, organises, transmits, updates, stores, or deletes, uses or works with the personal data of individuals is considered under GDPR to be a Data Processor; it is quite possible to be a Data Processor and a Data Controller.

As an Appsmakerstore partner you are processing personal data, so do any of the statements below apply to you?

• My business is located within the EU and therefore my business is considered as personal data controllers or processors;
• My business is not located within the EU, but who are considered processors or controllers of the personal data of individuals located in the EU;
• My business is located in countries whose data protection laws are set to change to be aligned with GDPR — This includes the United Kingdom’s proposed Data Protection Bill, Switzerland’s updates to the Swiss Data Protection Act, and Norway’s new Personal Data Act;
• My business is not located within the EU or other European countries with data protection laws similar to the EU, but we will be considered the processors or controllers of personal data of individuals (App Users) who are located in these countries.

GDPR Definitions – Q & A

What actions do I need to take to prepare my

business on for the GDPR with my Appsmakerstore solution?

If your business does not fit into any of these categories, then you don’t need to worry at all and take no action; this would include Appsmakerstore partners from the United States and Canada who are not collecting information from or marketing messages (push notifications, automated geo-location messages or emails from addresses collected from within their App) to customers located within Europe do not need to worry about these updates.

For Appsmakerstore partners who are affected by the GDPR, our platform offers the tools you need to make sure the CRM data and marketing lists you build using Appsmakerstore are fully GDPR compliant.
Below are some easy steps you should take to prepare your Appsmakerstore solution for the GDPR. We’d suggest making these updates ASAP so you can continue to offer your App to customers once the legislation goes into effect.

1. Update your Privacy Policy and publish it in the App using the Appsmakerstore Dashboard
We’ve already updated our Privacy Policy and also the App End User Licence Agreement (EULA) on your behalf, but it is a generic “one size fits all” that also references your individual Privacy Policy to account for your specific business operations.

To access the Privacy Policy Text edit screen go to the Appsmakerstore
dashboard > Settings > Privacy Policy Text

Easy steps to prepare your Appsmakerstore solution

Therefore your GDPR compliant Privacy policy should clearly describe the following:-

• What you use your customers’ data for? This can be as simple as “to provide our products / services to you” but it needs to be an accurate description.
• Identify the Data Controller and Data Processor in your business and provide their contact details should your clients ask you to amend or delete their data.

2. Contact Existing Members of your Appsmakerstore CRM or Marketing List with a
Double Opt-in Confirmation

No doubt you have worked hard to build your App User community and any subscribed mailing lists, so make sure you can still contact these customers after the 25th May 2018. Within the App why not create a Push Notification linked to a blog post requesting their authority, create and add a new Form Editor gadget and ask Individuals to confirm their subscription to your mailing list (a competition is always a
great mechanic to maximise response rates), or simply add the Mail List (subscribe) gadget to your App to start building a list within the App dashboard CRM function with App Users who have reconfirmed their desire to opt into your marketing communications.

A quick Google search for “GDPR Privacy Policy” will provide you with templated examples that
you can quickly edit to meet the specific needs of your business and operations.

Alternatively simply send a ‘double opt-in’ email to individual (App Users) who have previously subscribed to your marketing list and in all cases store their opt-in responses. In any event you will need to action these steps in advance of 25th May 2018.

3. Create GDPR Compliant Forms

To stay compliant, we recommend adding a checkbox to your form that indicates the individual’s desire
to opt into your mailing list.

With GDPR you must ask Users explicitly if they wish to opt into your marketing list, as well as making it clear exactly what their information will be used for. To stay compliant, it is also wise to use an opt-in checkbox on any Appsmakerstore form editor forms, in addition to providing clear information to let App Users know what they are opting in to. Here are some other text options that you may wish to use for the checkbox field:

1. Yes! I want to receive push notifications and emails from [YOUR BUSINESS NAME].
2. Sign me up for company announcements and industry best-practice push notifications and emails from [YOUR BUSINESS NAME].
3. I want to receive up-to-date information via in-app push notifications and email, including product updates, coupons, special offers and competition announcements from [YOUR BUSINESS NAME], your details will not be shared with any 3rd Parties.

NOTE #1: Delete “emails” in the above text if you don’t plan using them.
NOTE #2: In ALL such opt-in messages, the checkbox field cannot be pre-checked or be required for a competition or entry.
In addition, you must provide individuals with information regarding how their data will be used. It is a best practice to include a second checkbox field asking the entrant to indicate that they have read your terms and conditions before they enter. You could add this text in the Info section of your Form, if you are not quite sure what to say, here is an example:

Your data will not be used for reasons other than contest administration by [YOUR BUSINESS]. Specifically, your data will be used to help choose and announce a winner. If you opt in to our marketing, you agree to receiving push notifications and emails [TYPES OF MESSAGES — news, special offers, discounts, company announcements, product updates, etc] from [YOUR BUSINESS]. We promise not to share or sell your data with 3rd parties.

4. Include business contact information in your messages and in your App It is vitally important to provide your App Users with a means to contact you in order to stay compliant with both the “Individual Rights” and the increased data processing transparency requirements of GDPR.

The easiest way to do this is to use a Form Editor form to allow your App Users to “Set their Preferences” it is also prudent to include an email contact address and additional contact information, including your company’s contact address, in the Info section or as a text footnote in your gadget.

Make sure you keep the submitted results and ensure you action your App Users’ stated preferences To stay compliant why not add a “Set Preferences ”form editor to your App?

6. On your App registration settings or form editor gadgets, ask your App Users which country they live in?
Is Your Business Located Outside of Europe?
For the most part, the GDPR only affects App Owners located within Europe or those processing the personal data of individuals located within Europe. However, if you want to be sure you are only collecting data from people located in your country, then you could try the following suggestions:

• Use the End User Registration fields to understand exactly where your App Users are located by making Users’ country an obligatory registration field.
• Only include the countries where you wish to collect entries from, in the dropdown. This should prevent most people who are not located in the listed countries from entering your competition or submitting their data.
• Try adding a field to your form editor form asking App Users to choose the country they are located in from a dropdown list.

7. Implement country-based visibility settings for your App in native App stores When we / you publish your App you can choose the country-based visibility settings where your App will be available. If you do not want to bother with GDPR compliance simply choose not to offer your App for download in European
territories via Google Play and Apple Apps Stores.

8. Enable a double opt-in anyway Even if you don’t believe you are affected by the GDPR, you could implement the double opt-in process for your App anyway. Why? Double opt-in is used to stay
compliant for laws like the GDPR and it is used to build high-quality lists. When you use double opt-in, you ensure that App Users who are certain they want to receive your marketing messages, sign up for them. By doing this you will increase your read rates and it will decrease your unsubscribes, improving the quality of your marketing activities delivering a real win-win!

Whilst making your App and forms compliant with the GDPR is important if you are located within the EU or processing the personal data of individuals located in the EU, when you use the Appsmakerstore App solution, it really isn’t difficult to comply with the new requirements as we have nearly covered off everything for you.

If you are smart your App can be a fully GDPR compliant means of marketing your products, services, news and promotions to your customer base using one of the most potent and responsive tools available to marketeers today — Your Appsmakerstore App!

If you don’t have the necessary time or skills we also offer a low cost marketing consultancy package, so Talk to Us... support@appsmakerstore.com