GDPR email subject lines sound even more desperate than your ex lovers
Cast your eye through the reams of unread emails currently rattling around your personal inbox and you'll see a string of subject lines resembling break-up texts.
If your inbox is anything like mine in the run-up to GDPR coming into effect on 25 May, then your inbox will be bursting with subject lines like: "is it really over," "no more secrets between us," "please don't go," "don't let this be goodbye," and "let's be friends."
Nope it's not our thirsty exes that have come a-calling: It's GDPR knocking at our door. Or, rather, brands complying with Europe's new General Data Protection Regulation by asking us if we'd like to remain subscribed to their emails.
Some brands have opted for a to-the-point approach by simply titling their emails with things like "changes to our privacy policy" or "opt-in to receive our emails." While other—somewhat thirsty—brands have gone for a more creative approach, writing emails that smell strongly of, well, desperation.
I'm not the only one who senses these brands' desperation to keep us on their mailing lists. People have been taking to Twitter to share some of the emails they've received.
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As Kerry Purcell put it, the subject line of his email inbox "increasingly reads like a scorned lover."
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While the tone of these emails is clearly grovelling and reminiscent of every post-breakup text we've received from former loves, many of us are revelling in the opportunity to unsubscribe from the countless mailing lists we never signed up to.
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And, the wonderful thing is that in most cases you don't need to lift a finger to unsubscribe. Magic or what?
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Now, if only there were a GDPR equivalent for cutting all our exes out of our lives for good.
Topics Cybersecurity Privacy
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
