Compliance · 6 min read
Cold email and UK GDPR: what legitimate interest actually requires
B2B cold email is lawful under legitimate interest, but "legitimate interest" is a test you have to actually run and record, not a phrase you paste into a footer.
01
The three-part test
Purpose: is there a real business reason? Necessity: could you reach them another way? Balance: would they be surprised? Write the answers down once per campaign; that document is your assessment.
02
What the record changes
Data from the public record, used to contact a business about its business, sits at the defensible end of the balance test - and the source is one you can name.
03
The parts people forget
An unsubscribe that works, a suppression list that is honoured, and an answer ready for "where did you get this". Leadistry logs the basis and source per contact.
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