My GDPR Notice
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that May 25, 2018 is GDPR day! That’s right, forget about the Memorial Day holiday and a celebration of liberties. Celebrate, instead, the fact that the European Union may have found a way to singlehandedly cripple the Internet. How? REQUIRE that all information gathered by business be readily available to government officials if there’s a chance that it may touch a European citizen.
Don’t get me wrong. I love to know who’s getting what parts of my data. I’m just really, really paranoid when a government entity says “Trust me! I’ll check on all of your data and have total visibility on everything you do and be sure it’s not misused!”
It’s reminiscent when the female lead in the movie Enemy of the State says “Who’s gonna monitor the monitors of the monitors?”
All of that jeremiad notwithstanding, the EU insists that anyone who collects data has a privacy notice, written in normal language, not jargon and it must consist of the following:
- Who is collecting the data?
- What data is being collected?
- What is the legal basis for processing the data?
- Will the data be shared with any third parties?
- How will the information be used?
- How long will the data be stored for?
- What rights does the data subject have?
- How can the data subject raise a complaint?
So here goes:
- Who is collecting the data?
That would be me. Yup. No big monster data collection machine. Just me. Every time you send me an e-mail, I’ll be saving it. So if I need to find you in the future, I’ll have access.
- What data is being collected?
That would be everything you included in your e-mail. If I just have your e-mail address and nothing else, that’ll be everything that goes in my spreadsheet (Excel). If you identify yourself as working for a corporation, I’ll flag your name by the company. And if you tell me you’re from Searchlight, NV, I’ll plug that into the spreadsheet, too.
- What is the legal basis for processing the data?
You got in touch with me! You attended or signed up for one of my workshops through my company, PMI®, or through my company. You sent me an e-mail with a question about how you could pass the PMP® certification. You solicited me as a buddy on LinkedIn. I don’t have time enough to troll through a thousand e-mail lists to find you.
- Will the data be shared with any third parties?
My wife or son might see it. They sometimes get on my laptop at night after they’ve shut theirs down and they’re trying to figure out which movie had that guy who was in that TV show before there was Mad Men, or something like that. Oh, and one time, I sent out an e-mail blast (my ISP allows a max of 50 people in the “copy” column), and I forgot to BCC everyone. So those 50 people accidentally got leaked to 50 of their project management peers.
- How will the information be used?
About four times a year, I go on a spate of blatant self-promotion. Right now? I’m hyping an upcoming PMP Certification Exam Preparation class (June 4-5, 2018, Rockville MD with space still available, and the VIRTUAL version available anytime, anywhere). And sometimes someone will ask me, “Do you know someone who’s really well-versed in both project management and American history?” And I’ll remember that it’s Bruce Falk, but I know that’s not his e-mail address, so I’ll scroll through the 1500+ names on my spreadsheet until I see him and go ‘AHA!”
- How long will the data be stored for?
My oldest e-mails in my system are from 2000. (I carved them in there with stone knives). So right now, I’d say about 20 years.
- What rights does the data subject have?
If you want out of my system, just send me a courteous little e-mail saying “Carl, please delete me from that Excel spreadsheet of yours.” I’ll personally delete you. BUT, if you send me any other emails or attend any of my workshops or sign up for any of my workshops in the future, expect to find yourself back on the list.
- How can the data subject raise a complaint?
Well, there’s e-mail. That works. I’m an anal-retentive e-mail zealot. I write back within 24 hours…every time…if you have a question, concern or problem. But if you send an e-mail complaint, include a note NOT to include you in the Excel spreadsheet, because then you’ll think I’m spamming you (4 times a year constitutes spam? Really?) And if you don’t get a response, it’s probably because you have gmail. And Gmail doesn’t like carlpritchard.com mail. I don’t know why. So check your spam box before saying “Nobody responded!!” And if that doesn’t work, my phone number is posted on the “Contact Us” page of my website, which is www.carlpritchard.com.
And with that, you have my full privacy notice for those who wonder how they got e-mail from me or why. And if you’re trying to figure out where we crossed paths when you get some of my pernicious quadrennial e-mails, just enjoy the moment. It could be worse. I could be Google.
Carl Pritchard
