“Dear Mr or Ms…” – Are those days numbered? That might now be a GDPR violation.

A court in Austria (District Court of Favoriten, 39 C 273/25d) just ruled that forcing gendered salutations on customers can breach their personal rights—especially when they’ve asked for gender-neutral language. Backed by a CJEU ruling (C-394/23), the message is clear: Titles like “Mr” or “Ms” aren’t needed to do business, and might do more harm than good.

Takeaway? If your default setting is “Dear Sir/Madam,” it might be time to rethink that template.