GDPR Double Opt-in: Is It Required for Email Marketing?

Double opt-in qualifies your users with more authenticity, but is GDPR double opt-in required? 

Simply, No. According to Article 7, Recital 32 of the GDPR, it doesn’t include, in particular, any double opt-in conditions. However, double opt-in is a more sophisticated and authenticated way to validate users, and several countries follow the double opt-in inclusion practice. 

It’s highly beneficial to get more productive users through double opt-in, even if GDPR doesn’t require it.

Let’s explore GDPR double opt-in in more detail, including its practices and significance. 

table of contents

• Is GDPR required for double opt-in?
• Single opt-in vs double opt-in
• Double opt-in: Importance, Benefits & Drawbacks
  • Importance & benefits
  • Double opt-in disadvantages
• How to add a double opt-in?
• FAQs
• Wrap Up

Is GDPR required for double opt-in? 

According to the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR opt-in law in the EU, there’s no mention of GDPR double opt-in; instead, they have applied strict action on customer consent and how it should be processed. 

Consent cannot be implied and must always be given through an opt-in, a declaration, or an active motion, so that there is no misunderstanding that the data subject has consented to the particular processing

GDPR-Info

On the other hand, Germany follows the double opt-in standard as a GDPR requirement. Take a look at the email marketing German law –

Double opt-in requires additional confirmation of the consent, by sending a confirmation e-mail to the e-mail address provided during subscription, requesting the recipient to re-confirm the initial opt-in given, e.g., by clicking a confirmation link provided in the confirmation e-mail

Linklaters

Other than Germany, more countries are part of the double opt-in GDPR law for consent on email marketing. The countries that require double opt-in are- 

• Greece – The consent procedure of Greece includes double confirmation of the subscriber’s or user’s consent (Double opt-in).
• Austria – In Austria, users must follow a double opt-in procedure by sending a confirmation link via email or a text confirmation via phone number.
• Norway – As a non-EU member, avoiding ‘harassment registration’, the Norwegian consumer authority recommends using double opt-in for businesses.
• Luxembourg – To prevent system abuse, the Luxembourg government requires that the sender must send a confirmation email to the subscribers. 
• Switzerland – Another non-EU member, Switzerland’s email marketing consent and disclosures require mentioning the use of double opt-in as a best practice. 
• Italy – Italian Data Protection Authority prefers strong protection of the user’s consent. It leads to double opt-in implementation here. 

Although the GDPR generally requires the sender to initiate only a single opt-in choice, German law has implied and explicitly mentioned the double opt-in. But between single opt-in and double opt-in, which one is a more effective opt-in choice?

Single opt-in vs Double opt-in

Single opt-in	Double opt-in
Single opt-in takes the user’s consent with general information and sign-up.	Double opt-in involves an additional step that includes a confirmation email, and the recipient must click the included verification link.
Single opt-in is an instant choice and requires less time to manage.	Double opt-in takes more time to qualify a user coming through the single opt-in.
Single opt-in is a fast processing option, but it is more prone to spam and bot users.	Double opt-in is a slow process, but effective in identifying a real user.

For more on single opt-in vs double opt-in → Single opt-in vs Double opt-in.

Here, you can see that double opt-in is a more effective way to achieve and identify real users. While the single opt-in is a fast process, it may lead users to opt out of your email subscription in the future, as bots or spam users are more likely to come through the single opt-in. 

It is always a good idea to send a confirmation email. Otherwise, your email list will be filled with bots, and people can just fill in random stuff that will bounce anyway.

Reddit

Find more importance and benefits of double opt-in.

Double opt-in: importance, benefits & drawbacks

Other than GDPR opt-in, double opt-in has a very nifty role in email marketing. As you already know, double opt-in GDPR, the importance here is far more far-fetched than single opt-in.

Let’s find out the importance and benefits of double opt-in here.

Importance and benefits

Importance & Benefits	Details
Deliverability	Double opt-in significantly helps to improve the deliverability. When subscribers click the verification link, this verifies the users also, and they receive the email in their inbox without going into spam. This gradually improves the deliverability.
Sender Reputation	This one dignifies users with more reputation scores when users regularly receive emails in their inbox. ISP and ESP (email service provider) regularly assign scores to rank the top-level email domains. The regular inbox delivery maintains its good reputation.
Checking valid users	Through double opt-in, you can maintain and keep valid users. You can collect users through single opt-in, but double opt-in ensures you don’t have unresponsive or bot users.
Security	Security maintenance and stopping spam users are concerns for large organizations. Double opt-in helps implement extra security by a verification link to ensure the users are coming from a valid source.

You see, double opt-in is a good option for improving your email user experience. But there are some noticeable drawbacks –

Double opt-in disadvantages

Disadvantages	Details
Users lose interest	Verifying the email by the user takes time, and the user might want to skip the verification step or find it annoying anyway. So, in this way, double opt-in may lead to losing interest among users.
Slow user acquiring	Acquiring users through double opt-in is a slow process. Since you are getting users in two steps, the double opt-in process is a gradual and slow process.

How to add a double opt-in? 

There are numerous opportunities to add a double opt-in with opt-in consent. With the opt-in policy checked in the form, you can easily add a double opt-in.

MailBluster has a very unique way of adding Double opt-in to use in your email. The Double opt-in feature of MailBluster provides a separate section for composing, adding a subject, sender, email address, and redirection URL, all at a simple form. 

(a) Check out the steps in MailBluster –

1. Sign in to your MailBluster account and go to Settings → Double opt-in.

2. Fill in Subject, Sender name, and Sender through Manage senders.

3. Select Editor and design your email content by clicking on the Content

4. On the Advanced tab, fill in your Redirection URL that brings users to the next page after double opt-in is confirmed.

5. Select MailBluster branding and send the email.

(b) Also, when sending with Forms, you can set the Double opt-in and redirection at the same time when creating emails. Take a look –

Select your Pop-up or Inline forms from Forms in MailBluster. In the Advanced tab, set your Redirection URL and Enable the Double opt-in option. 

For more information on MailBluster’s forms → Forms of MailBluster.

Wrap Up

GDPR double opt-in is not a required action in the policy, but double opt-in is considered a best practice for email. Double opt-in is a good option when you need to verify a user with an extra layer of security. Additionally, it brings real users to your inventory when the right email tool is implemented, making it more impactful for your email marketing.

So, our end note is that double opt-in is vaguely related to GDPR, and it isn’t explicitly mentioned in the opt-in law policy. However, maintaining email compliance is always obligatory when sending emails.

Find out more related blogs –

• What is double opt-in?
• Single vs Double opt-in
• Opt-in email list building, strategies & examples

FAQs