GDPR for contractors and freelancers: have you missed anything?

We’ve updated our privacy policy.

Before you chuck your laptop or tablet across the room, don’t worry – we’re just kidding. Well, we have updated it, but that’s not what this blog is about.

We’re not telling you what you need to do if you want us to be able to stay in touch, but rather making sure you know how, as a contractor or freelancer, GDPR might have affected you and how it could affect your business if you don’t take action.

Can everyone still contact you?

Let’s face it, we’ve all done it over the last month or two. We’ve seen an email in our inbox with the subject “Let us keep you informed” or words to that effect. We’ve looked at the sender and thought, “I don’t even remember giving you permission to contact me in the first place” and we’ve deleted the email without reading it.

However, by just letting some senders disappear without a trace, you could be leaving yourself short of work. More than one freelance agency we know of has been emailing the contractors and freelancers on their books to say that if they don’t explicitly give them permission to stay in touch, they won’t be able to contact them by email or phone about potential work coming up; even if they have an ongoing working relationship.

So, the first thing to do is a quick search back through your emails to check if you have any such GDPR emails from recruiters and agencies that you work with. If you do, make sure you follow any instructions that will ensure they can stay in touch. The second thing to do, if you can’t find any emails and you think certain agencies have been a bit quiet of late, is to email them and check if you need to do anything.

Are you GDPR compliant?

If you hold data for your current and previous clients for any purpose at all then you need to make sure you are compliant with GDPR. You need to identify what data you hold, how you use it, document a suitable privacy policy or fair processing notice and delete any data you don’t need or don’t have permission to hold.

If you use marketing methods such as mailing lists, you will need to ensure you’ve followed all of the rules on GDPR to the letter. The EU’s GDPR portal has all of the information you need.

If you want to speak to us about how we use your information, or simply about renewing your contractor insurance policy, you can call the friendly Kingsbridge team on 01242 808740 and we’ll do our utmost to help you.

Otherwise, you can find out everything you need to know about our comprehensive contractor insurance package and everything it includes right here on our website.