Examining Email Marketing Legislation Processes
Email marketing legislation processes are one of the rules that a good email marketer must follow. In sending out your emails, obviously, you can’t just email anyone. The reason for that is many countries have laws concerning what an email marketer is allowed to send and how they send it in order to reduce unwanted, abusive, fraudulent, and other malicious types of email often called Spam. In this article, I want to look at some of the email marketing legistlation you need to consider for your email marketing.
Email marketing regulations are in place to protect users from fraud and abuse, as well as maintain permission standards. These regulations are also important for keeping the data secure and protected from harmful use.
There are different email regulations depending on which countries your subscribers are based in. If you are sending to a worldwide audience you must ensure each regulation is adhered to, it’s not based on where you are sending the emails from but where your subscribers are located.
The three main email marketing legislation and regulations you need to know are listed below. We will go into further details on each in the next few slides.
1.CAN-SPAM
The United States protects email users via the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. This established certain mandatory opt-out practices and requires email senders to clearly identify themselves and the content of any marketing email.
2.CASL as part of the legislations for email marketing?
The Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, aka the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, came into effect in 2014 and requires marketers to obtain permission from a user before they may send marketing material via email or SMS.
3.GDPR as part of email marketing legistlation
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation is fully enforceable as of May 2018 and requires marketers to adhere to strict user data and permission practices.
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003
It covers commercial email messages in the United States. The following are the constraints on email that the CAN-SPAM act enforces:
- The marketer has to identify themselves with a physical address
- Opt-out processes must be simple
- A Marketer can send to any user who has not “opted-out”
- A Subject line must accurately reflect the content
- The message must be identified as an ad
The Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL)
This is anti-spam law that applies to all electronic messages (i.e. email, texts) that organizations send in connection with a “commercial activity.” The following are the constraints on email that the CASL act enforces:
- Can only send marketing emails to a user who has consented
- A pre-checked box is not an express opt-in
- “Implied opt-in” and pre-existing business relationships are considered valid consent for 24 months
- Social media interaction and conditional opt-in are not valid
An implied opt-in is where an individual provides his or her email address during some form of business communication but not necessarily for the purpose of signing up to an email marketing list.
A conditional opt-in is one that implies that the user must opt in to an email list if they want to access a page or website.
What happens if we don’t comply with CASL as part of email marketing legistlation.
Organizations that don’t comply risk serious penalties, including criminal charges, civil charges, personal liability for company officers and directors, and penalties of up to $10 million.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation that requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens. GDPR is enforceable as of 25th May 2018, replacing the existing out-dated data protection directive from 1995. The following are the constraints on email that the GDPR will enforce:
- Marketers can only send marketing emails to users who have explicitly requested that content
- All personal user data must be protected at minimum standards and not shared
- Users may request all data that is stored about them at any time
- Users may request that any and all data about them is deleted
Companies that collect data from users in the European Union will need to comply with these new rules. Failure to comply will lead to a fine of up to €20 million or 4% of your companies annual turnover, whichever is higher.
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