Thank goodness that’s over. We can now return to our normal working practices. With the end of the requirement to allow working from home, we can get our staff back under one roof and ensure that the data on subscribers to our email marketing lists are dealt with securely, without the fear of who might be accessing various remote laptops.

Best of luck with that. Any move, any change, gives rise to requirements to manage, and for us there is the need for security of our assets. We must ensure the move back to office work is planned correctly, and there are no surprises. I would not put a lot of faith in the ICO’s suggestion that they would view any infringements taking into account our Lockdown problems.

Did you really expect your employees not to use their own computers at home for business purposes, if only sporadically? Evidence of this might well become apparent in the next few days. How you react to the revelations might well define how your staff respond to the changes.

Many commentators suggest there is a pool of knowledge that is underused, particularly in email marketing where blame for an error is normally easy to apportion. Your staff are probably just as concerned as you are about breaches of the GDPR, and will have given the subject some thought. Now is the time to ask them.

In order to do so you need to garner their trust. Don’t throw tantrums about past breaches of established processes. It’d be an indulgence. Much better, perhaps, to have a few minutes’ discussion, perhaps on Zoom, where you can make a little confession, such as, ‘I know I did’, in order to encourage your staff to be truthful.

Praise them if they identify a likely problem, and do the same if they point out something you could do better. While reminding them of the old security practices, now possibly vague in their minds, ask them their opinions, their concerns and their ideas. Remember, they too will be concerned about what the change will mean. Don’t miss the opportunity to get them onside.