Clarifying GDPR… and why your action is required

We explain how VIVA are GDPR-compliant and what action you need to take if you have recently received an email from us about the new data protection legislation.

As you may be aware, the new EU data protection regulation, GDPR, comes into effect today, so we thought we’d answer the following questions that you may be asking yourself…

What is GDPR?

By now, you’ll probably know that GDPR is the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation and you’ll have doubtless received a number of communications from companies whose services you’ve used or products you’ve purchased at one time or another.

GDPR compliance involves using the highest possible privacy settings by default, so that no data is available publicly without explicit consent, and providing transparency with regards to the storage and processing of an individual’s personal data.

To comply with the new EU guidelines, VIVA have taken measures to ensure that the submission of any contact request form you fill out on our website requires your agreement to our Updated Privacy Policy.

How does it affect me?

The overriding idea behind GDPR is that it allows you – the owner of the data – even more control over your personal information. For example, you now have the right to access, modify, remove and permanently delete your personal data.

In most cases, your user experience will not be affected, but if you’ve received an email asking you to opt in to keep on hearing from us, you must do so in order to give us your consent.

What do I need to do?

Check your inbox! If you have signed up to receive VIVA emails, made an online request or have an active myVIVA account, you’ll have recently received an email from us asking you to review our Updated Privacy Policy and check that you’re OK with the changes required by EU law.

If you have a record on our database, but haven’t expressly opted in or signed up to a VIVA product – you’ve either been referred by a friend or made a telephone request, for example – you’ll also have received an email requiring you to review your email preferences (the link to which you can find in the footer of the mail) and give your approval for VIVA mailings, updates and notifications.

Important: If this email reached you this week and you take no action, you will no longer receive our popular Weekly Property Update, Monthly Newsletter, Blog Update and web notifications.

Why GDPR is a good thing…

We want you to have control over what you receive from us, so we can be sure that our emails are specifically relevant to your needs, which is why the decision whether or not to change your preferences is completely yours!

For detailed information about GDPR, check out the official site or – alternatively – the European Commission website.

If you have any questions, please drop us a line at [email protected].