Automatically Checking for Software Updates Upon Application Launch and GDPR

[Tawbie]

Hi all,

Seasons Greetings.

This question is for forum members who live in the UK or Europe.

Does GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) impact at all on software applications checking for updates upon launch. In my case, this would be done simply by downloading a small file from the website server which contains the latest version number. If the version number is greater than that of the installed app, it alerts the user that a (free) update is available for download at the website. It does NOT automatically download the update.

My question is whether you are still seeing major companies in Europe/UK doing automatic software update checks upon application launch or whether due to GDPR, customer consent is now required to perform this function.

I cannot find a reference to this issue on the web and I cannot test it since I live in Australia. Incidentally, in my case, software updates won't be occuring too often (say every three months), so it will not irritate users.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[BarryG]

If user consent is required, the easiest solution is to ask the user before checking, but with third and fourth options of "Never ask again" and "Always check without asking". The user then clicks Yes/No/Never/Always and you're off any legal hooks. Note: This is not legal advice (haha).