The Importance of Permission
We have a permission policy for sending emails and by using the service provided you are acknowledging and agreeing to our Terms of Use.
Proven permission is required to send emails to Users on your Lists and without proven permission it means you do not have consent and are effectively sending Spam.
Permission Defined
Permission is where people provide explicit consent to receive marketing communications.
When asking for permission the information provided needs to be presented in a way that relates it specifically to what people are signing up to receive.
As an example, a signup form that displays an unticked checkbox to say "I would like to receive the ABC Widgets monthly newsletter" is specific and clear to the person signing up as to what that means when they tick the box prior to submitting their details.
Consequences of Spamming
Sending emails to people that have not provided consent are more likely to complain and mark emails as Spam and this can also result in blacklisting of IP addresses and domains.
Where emails are sent to people and they do not comply with applicable laws it may result in substantial financial penalties and so to seek clarification in matters relating to consent it is advisable to contact organisations such as The Information Commissioners Office.
Legislation varies across regions and in May 2018 the GDPR will replace the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive 2002 in Europe but will also impact on senders worldwide.
Other examples of worldwide legislation are the US CAN-SPAM Act and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
All legislation related to marketing communications and privacy is set in place to protect recipients and it is therefore advisable that when using our service you are fully compliant with applicable law.
Best Practice Advice
Ultimately, consent is what is required for each User record stored within our application and related to this there are a range of features to help with capturing permission correctly and maintaining List hygiene.
Capturing and managing permissions and data correctly is critical in relation to being compliant with applicable law and also providing an improved user experience to your subscribers.
Click here to read more about best practice advice for capturing and managing permissions.
Common Questions
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) is a regulation by which the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission intend to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union (EU). For more info, click here.
How can legal compliancy be ensured?
First, read the application Terms of Use and then research the many different types of worldwide legislation to review how each law impacts on the data you store and the emails you send.
What is double opt-in?
Double opt-in is a way to validate email addresses as people complete forms (signup, register etc.). Before being added to a List the User must first click the link on the email sent to their inbox. To find out more about double opt-in, click here.
What is a "Subject Access Request"?
An individual is entitled to obtain all of the information stored about them and this is commonly termed as a 'Subject Access Request'. For more info on how to deal with this type of request, click here.
What is the "Right to Be Forgotten"?
When an individual no longer wants their information to be stored they are able to exercise their right to be forgotten. Users can opt-out at any time but this goes a step further and removes all personally identifiable information relating to them. For more info on how to deal with this type of request, click here.