[Matthew Rusk]

Great video Andrew, like many fellow musicians I have suffered from Tinnitus for many years. Something that really helped me, when it was very painful, was to put ear protectors for 30 mins or so in the evening just to relax knowing that no sound would be too painful. This helped me to relax & felt much better just to be able to get that relax time, I think some of the problem of Tinnitus is that you get anxious about hearing loud noises as they cause pain so this increases the stress levels so it makes it worse. Sounds like folks hitting plates or glasses bashing together (all common during washing up) is another time that I know to protect my ears.

[Matthew Rusk]

Andrew Ford this is an interesting read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44240664 & what I talked about with Eliza Jane Fyfe. I am not sure you really need to re-consent users of your list to allow you to continue to send newsletters to them. The law cannot be retrospective and assuming you have collected the data in a reasonable way (sounds like you have, as you ask people if they wanted your newsletter), protect the data properly (using say a two factor authentication on your mailchimp list + strong password) and are using it to send information that is relevant to why they signed up (so about piano lesson related activities…not about cheap holiday packages to Spain) then you are still complying with GDPR. I have a feeling that many of the big companies are simply trying to cover their backs by “re-consenting” their users, however, I have now seen several articles that say this process is unnecessary if data is being reasonable handled for reasonable purposes. In addition, if the first port of call, if someone would have a complaint, would be for them to unsubscribe, contact you to highlight their displeasure at receiving it. I believe, from reading, at worst you would get a warning, however, I think you could demonstrate that this newsletter was relevant to the users subscribed and you always gave them the option to opt out.

[Matthew Rusk]

Andrew Ford that is a pretty major screw up by MailChimp, what a nightmare!

[Matthew Rusk]

I can see your problem, there is more to it in regard to “re-consent” (https://litmus.com/blog/gdpr-re-permission-campaigns-6-tips-for-making-them-a-success). How did you collect the data originally to build up your mail list and can it be that it was GDPR compliant just in the way you had been doing it?

[Matthew Rusk]

Another very good read for those of you who are interested:http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/the-ultimate-guide-to-wordpress-and-gdpr-compliance-everything-you-need-to-know/