From May 2018, consent requirements for data use will change to opt-in permissions, with a clear affirmative action required; failure to opt out will no longer be sufficient consent. Required consent will also be granular; separate permissions must be acquired for permission to send different marketing materials, for example.

The report, from W8 Data, reveals that only 25% of existing customer data meets the requirements specified under the GDPR. In order to use existing data, marketers must be satisfied that it meets the new standards and have a fully documented permission trail including the data and source of the consent. 

The study also found that one in three marketing campaigns are now focused on gathering consent, at the expense of customer acquisition, customer retention and brand building.

Finally, the report revealed that just 35% of organisations have a regular data cleansing process in place. 

“It’s unsurprising that repermissioning campaigns are rocketing as marketers are waking up to the realisation that much of their data will be useless come May 2018," said Dave Lee, director at W8 Data.

"However, what is crucial moving forwards is that the opted-in data is quality-checked and well maintained, otherwise it risks becoming uncompliant and unusable. The fact that two thirds of organisations are currently failing to regularly review their data speaks volumes, and under GDPR is something that is going to have to change.”

Guidance on how to prepare for the GDPR can be found here.