Re: How can just a new privacy policy be compliant
"Like everyone else I have got a bunch of emails from everyone I have dealt with asking for permission to keep contacting me. "
If you signed into a mailing list, then you already gave permission and they can carry on.
The ones asking for permission to keep contacting are admitting they weren't holding your permission and have been breaching the ASA's rules for the last decade. This time the law has teeth and they're worried.