Why is unsubscribe not deletion after baby free samples?

What does unsubscribe actually do after a sample claim?

The footer link is a channel opt-out. The ICO’s PECR pages treat it like an objection to direct marketing on that channel: the sender must stop those emails or texts. It is not a request to wipe the claim file.

A preference-centre switch that says “third parties” is the same family of action: stop future partner mail from that club. Copies already sitting with a nappy or formula brand are not recalled by that click. Those brands need their own objection.

Emma’s Diary’s public data FAQ is unusually plain: if you cancel membership, “your details will be suppressed from our systems”. That is the ICO’s suppression model written in club English.

What does the ICO say a suppression list is?

The ICO’s public object page and its “respect people’s preferences” guidance say that a successful marketing objection does not automatically mean all personal information is erased. Organisations keep a list of people who must not be marketed to, so a later bought-in list does not put the same email back in the send queue.

ICO to organisations: do not simply delete an opted-out address if that would let the same details re-enter a marketing list. If someone asks you to delete their details, explain that you need to keep them on a do-not-contact list to honour the opt-out.

How do I ask for erasure as well as an opt-out?

Say both things, in writing, to the privacy address on the notice. The ICO says organisations should not automatically treat every unsubscribe as an erasure request — so you have to use the word erase or delete.

1. 1
   Stop the inbox first Use the footer unsubscribe and the club preference centre so new mail stops while you write.
2. 2
   Send a separate erasure email Subject line: “Right to erasure — baby sample claim”. Name the adult and baby fields. Say you want the sample-claim record deleted, not only suppressed. The deletion how-to has brand form links.
3. 3
   Ask what remains Ask them to confirm in the one-month reply which fields were erased and whether a suppression record remains, and for how long they say they need it. Do not accept a brand-invented period from a blog; take the controller’s written answer.
4. 4
   Repeat for each partner A club suppression list does not bind a formula brand that already received the date of birth. Write to each controller the SAR named.

Will the baby's record stay on file after I unsubscribe?

Often yes, until someone asks for erasure. A suppression list still holds enough to recognise the household — typically an email or phone number. A sample-claim database may still hold the child’s date of birth because nobody asked to delete it. That date remains the child’s personal data.

The ICO’s children’s guidance says a person with parental responsibility can usually exercise the child’s rights while the baby lacks capacity. Erasure is the request that targets those baby fields. Unsubscribe is not.

In shortUnsubscribe silences marketing and usually leaves a suppression list. ICO erasure is the separate right if you want the sample-claim — including the baby’s date of birth — deleted. Say both, in writing, to every controller that has a copy.