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title: "GDPR in HubSpot: lawful basis, subscriptions and marketing contacts"
description: Understand lawful basis, communication subscriptions and marketing contact status in HubSpot, and how to keep these three separate in your setup.
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 October 19, 2026

# GDPR in HubSpot: lawful basis, subscriptions and marketing contacts

![Picture of Emelie](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/a7bfbbcaf0bc52ffebec008d63b2902f) By  [Emelie](https://leadlabs.se/en/insights/author/emelie)  ·   6 minute read

> **Short answer:** GDPR management in HubSpot has three separate parts: a lawful basis for processing personal data, permission to send a particular type of communication, and the contact’s marketing or non-marketing status. Marketing contact is a technical and billing status, not legal consent.

Several HubSpot settings affect whether and how you can communicate with a contact. These concepts are easily confused. A marketing contact may lack the relevant subscription. A non-marketing contact may still receive a personal sales email. A lawful basis for storing personal data does not automatically give you permission to send marketing.

To build a reliable setup, separate three questions:

1. May we store and process this personal data?
2. May we communicate with this person through this channel about this content?
3. Should this person count as a billable marketing contact in HubSpot?

This article explains how the parts fit together. It is a practical HubSpot guide, not legal advice. Always have your data protection officer or legal adviser assess the requirements for your organisation and the markets where you operate.

## Three separate layers in HubSpot

### 1. Lawful basis for processing

GDPR requires a valid lawful basis for processing personal data. In HubSpot, this can be recorded in the contact property **Legal basis for processing contact’s data**.

HubSpot’s default options include:

- legitimate interest for leads,
- legitimate interest for customers,
- other legitimate interest,
- performance of a contract,
- freely given consent,
- not applicable.

This property primarily explains why you may store and process the contact’s data. It should not be confused with subscription status for a particular type of communication.

### 2. Communication Subscriptions

Subscription types, or Communication Subscriptions, describe the categories of communication a person can receive. Examples include:

- newsletters,
- product updates,
- events and webinars,
- customer information,
- sales information.

A contact can subscribe to one type and unsubscribe from another. This gives recipients more control and lets you send relevant communications without treating every email as one category.

### 3. Marketing contact status

Marketing contact status is primarily a commercial and technical setting in HubSpot. Marketing contacts count towards your billable contact tier and can be used in marketing emails, advertising audiences and certain marketing actions in workflows.

Non-marketing contacts do not count towards the same billable tier and cannot be used in those marketing tools. They can remain in your CRM and support other processes, such as personal sales communications, ticket management and administration.

Marketing contact status is therefore not legal consent. It determines which HubSpot tools a contact can be used in and how the contact affects your costs.

## An example that shows the difference

Suppose Anna downloads a guide from your website.

- She provides her details and receives information about how they are processed.
- She checks a box to receive your newsletter.
- HubSpot records the lawful basis for processing.
- She is subscribed to the **Newsletter** subscription type.
- She is set as a marketing contact so HubSpot can send marketing emails to her.

If Anna later unsubscribes from the newsletter, she should no longer receive that type of email. She may remain in the CRM if you have a valid basis for continued processing. You should also assess whether she still needs to be a marketing contact or can become non-marketing.

## What does legitimate interest mean?

Legitimate interest is one of the lawful bases available under GDPR. In simple terms, the processing must be necessary for a legitimate purpose and balanced against the individual’s interests, rights and reasonable expectations.

Simply entering “legitimate interest” in HubSpot is not enough. Your organisation needs to carry out and document its assessment. This usually means describing:

- the organisation’s interest,
- why processing is necessary,
- which data is used,
- what the person can reasonably expect,
- the risks to the person,
- the safeguards you have introduced,
- how the person can object or unsubscribe.

HubSpot can store your choice and explanation, but the software does not determine whether your assessment is legally correct.

## Lawful basis for processing and lawful basis for communication

HubSpot distinguishes between permission to process and store a contact’s data and permission to communicate with that contact. With data privacy settings enabled, you may therefore need to specify both:

- **Legal basis to process:** why the data may be stored and processed.
- **Legal basis to communicate:** why you may contact the person through the selected channel and subscription type.

This distinction matters. Needing to keep a customer’s details to perform a contract does not automatically mean the customer should receive all your marketing emails.

## How to structure your subscription types

Good subscription types are clear to recipients and useful to your organisation. Avoid both one excessively broad category and a long list of almost identical options.

For many B2B companies, the following structure can be a reasonable starting point:

- **News and inspiration:** articles, guides and newsletters.
- **Events and webinars:** invitations and follow-ups.
- **Product and service updates:** news about your offering.
- **Customer communications:** relevant information for existing customers.

Each subscription type should have a clear name and a description explaining what recipients will receive and, ideally, roughly how often.

## Consent in forms

HubSpot forms can display privacy information and collect consent. You can use separate checkboxes for different subscription types or show information about processing based on legitimate interest.

Keep the following in mind:

- Consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.
- A communication checkbox must not be preselected.
- The form must clearly explain what the person is consenting to.
- Link to an up-to-date privacy policy.
- Connect each checkbox to the correct subscription type.
- Test that the status and lawful basis are recorded on the contact record.

Submitting a form without selecting an optional communication checkbox does not automatically give you permission to add the person to a newsletter.

## Marketing contacts and non-marketing contacts

### Marketing contacts

A marketing contact can be used in HubSpot’s marketing features and counts towards your contact tier. Contacts submitting certain forms may become marketing contacts by default, depending on the form’s setting.

### Non-marketing contacts

A non-marketing contact is stored in the CRM but does not count towards the billable marketing contact tier. Examples include:

- suppliers,
- job applicants,
- old or inactive leads,
- existing customers who should not receive marketing emails,
- contacts needed only for sales or support,
- internal test contacts.

Changing an existing marketing contact to non-marketing normally takes effect on the next contact tier update date. Setting a contact as marketing takes effect immediately and affects the billable tier.

## Can you email a non-marketing contact?

Yes, certain types of email and communication can still be sent. Marketing contact status primarily controls the use of HubSpot’s marketing tools. For example, a non-marketing contact may still receive personal one-to-one sales emails, sequence emails, registration emails, certain service communications and transactional emails, provided you have the appropriate lawful basis and follow applicable rules.

It is therefore incorrect to use marketing contact status as the only measure of whether a person may be contacted.

## A recommended HubSpot setup

### 1. Enable and configure data privacy settings

Review HubSpot’s Privacy & Consent settings. Decide which features should be active and which regions they should apply to.

### 2. Document your lawful bases

Describe when you use consent, contract or legitimate interest. For legitimate interest, the assessment should be documented outside the individual contact record and approved by your responsible legal adviser or data protection function.

### 3. Clean up subscription types

Remove overlaps, write clear descriptions and ensure the correct type is used in forms and emails. Do not archive a type without first understanding the effect on existing subscriptions.

### 4. Decide when a contact should be marketing

Set rules for each source: forms, imports, integrations, events, chat and manually created contacts. Use workflows where appropriate and consider a limit on how many contacts can become marketing.

### 5. Establish a regular data routine

For example, review the following each month:

- unsubscribed and hard-bounced contacts,
- inactive marketing contacts,
- contacts without a documented lawful basis,
- old leads whose retention needs should be reassessed,
- forms and integrations assigning the wrong marketing status,
- subscription types that are no longer used.

## Common mistakes

### “Marketing contact means we have consent”

No. Marketing contact is a HubSpot status for tool access and billing.

### “Newsletter consent covers all communications”

No. Consent must be specific. Use clear subscription types and respect the person’s choices.

### “Legitimate interest does not need to be documented”

Incorrect. You must be able to demonstrate your reasoning and why the person’s rights do not outweigh the interest.

### “Unsubscribed contacts can always be deleted”

Not necessarily. In some cases, you need to retain unsubscribe information to prevent future emails. At the same time, you should not keep more data than necessary.

### “All forms work in the same way”

Different forms, integrations and import processes may create contacts with different default statuses. Test every source.

## Summary

A reliable GDPR setup in HubSpot starts by separating three things: the lawful basis for processing, permission for a particular type of communication and marketing contact status.

With the right structure, you can respect recipients’ choices, reduce the risk of inappropriate emails and avoid paying for contacts you should not market to. HubSpot provides tools for documenting and automating the work, but your organisation remains responsible for the legal assessment.

## Common questions about GDPR and contacts in HubSpot

### Is a marketing contact the same as a contact who has consented?

No. Marketing contact status determines which marketing tools a contact can be used in and whether the contact affects your HubSpot costs. Consent and other lawful bases are managed separately.

### Can we send marketing emails to a non-marketing contact?

Not through HubSpot’s standard marketing email tools. Certain other communications, such as one-to-one emails, sequences and transactional emails, may be technically possible. You still need a valid lawful basis and must follow applicable rules.

### What is a Communication Subscription in HubSpot?

It is a subscription type describing a category of communication, such as newsletters, event invitations or product updates. A contact can subscribe to one type and unsubscribe from another.

### What does legitimate interest mean in HubSpot?

Legitimate interest is a possible lawful basis for processing. HubSpot can record your choice and justification, but your organisation must assess and demonstrate that the requirements are met.

### When does a change to non-marketing take effect?

When an existing marketing contact is set as non-marketing, the change normally takes effect on the next contact tier update date. A change to marketing contact normally takes effect immediately.

### Are HubSpot’s GDPR settings enough to ensure compliance?

No. The features support your work, but compliance also requires appropriate processes, documentation, agreements, retention routines and legal assessments.

**Need to clarify how forms, subscription types, lawful bases and marketing contacts should be configured in HubSpot? Leadlabs helps you build a clear, maintainable structure based on your legal guidelines. [Contact us.](https://leadlabs.se/en/contact-us?hsLang=en)**

## Sources

- [HubSpot: Track legal basis of processing](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/how-can-i-track-lawful-basis-of-processing-in-hubspot)
- [HubSpot: Manage messaging subscriptions](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/manage-your-subscription-preferences-and-types)
- [HubSpot: Add data privacy and consent information to a form](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/forms/add-notice-and-consent-information-to-your-hubspot-form)
- [HubSpot: Understand marketing contacts](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/marketing-contacts)
- [HubSpot: Understand marketing contacts billing](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/account/understand-marketing-contacts-billing)

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