Social Media Marketing and the Data Protection Act (UK)

As usual every year I have to re-train and brush up on my mandatory government learning modules
and this one GDPR and the data protection act.

So it just so happened I remembered this time to write a post and get a general consensus on if my thoughts on this subject are actually happening.

So it is the right of a data subject (me or you) to prevent data controllers (anyone collecting data on you) from directly using our personal data for marketing purposes.

Now if that is the case then surely social media channels are in breach of our data protection laws.
As I cant keep count the number of times I have had marketing directed to me within minutes of having a conversation.

Our data , our posts, blog posts, comments , tweets are all collected by data controllers and key words extracted and ads targeted using clever complex marketing algorithms , now am I right , are they directly using our data to target marketing campaigns on our browsers , our mobiles our tablets?

It appears to me that they are doing just that , any information we post on their site is our personal data, we agree to allow them to use it, but our data protection rights afford us the right to prevent data controllers using that data for direct marketing !

What do you think ?

I think they probably get around it by classing the data they have on you as being "anonymous" and not something that could identify you.

So an IP address could ID you I suppose, but then if it's all encrypted info that can't be read and just pushes back marketing data to an "anonymous" end user, I don't think you would be protected.

Although I could see that maybe changing in the future as the DPA is modernised.

Or they will just take it away entirely and you will have no right to privacy. That one is probably more likely unfortunately.

A scumbag lawyer hid the consent in the t&c's.

Read Google and FB t&c's if you want an eye opener.

It's not against the law when you consent to be spied on.

I have emailed the Scottish commissioner for the crown for data requests to investigate on my behalf, another right afforded me by the data protection act !

We can apparently request compensation if our rights have been breached and I think they have because so many social media sites use your data to target ads specifically to things you talk about on your twitter or your timeline on fb !

we shall see

I wonder if they updated it with the new GDPR laws

a reply to: Mandroid7

Im not talking about being spied on , im talking about my right as a data subject to not have my data used for direct marketing
its a breach of the data protection act !

Data Protection Act is about an individual have the right to request a copy of all data and information stored about them, and insist on corrections if it is wrong.

I have used the DPA to request that my bank provides a list of all credit card statements in the past 30 years, use that to make a claim for PPI compensation. That actually led to a giant bundle of A4 paper the size of a phone book.

Of course, all that information is a wonder for marketing people; they know my salary, my employers, where I travel too (every cashless payment in a railway station shop is like a tracking marker for my movements), where I shop, what items I've bought.

In the past, there was a Conservative related company that maintained a paper based reference systems for business people to know who not to deal with. Very few people knew about this. Mainly it was used by business rivals to badword each other. One left-wing tabloid newspaper requested a copy of all references about people and handed them out at the party conference, then sat back and watched the fireworks.

a reply to: stormcell

Aye the amount of data being stored by companies is frightening !

The DPA is such a load of bollocks. I too have to do the compulsory e-learning modules at work. We, the ordinary citizen in the street are restricted / controlled by restrictions of the DPA , yet our governmental body that demands our specific details by law for road tax payment can legally sell our details to companies for £2.50 a pop. What happened to our data protection? As usual, one rule for one set of people and a different rule for another.