Mailworks Anti-Spam Policy

Transcription

1 Mailworks Anti-Spam Policy September 24, 2014 Guidelines Before adding new recipients to your contact list, you need to ensure that you have the proper permission for each and every recipient on your list. Why? Without proper permission, you run the risk of getting reported for spam, or worse, being sued or facing monetary penalties under anti-spam laws. The basic principle of permission is that you can only people who have explicitly given you permission to contact them, and only about subjects that they have specifically agreed to. Failure to ensure that all your recipients fall into the Acceptable Use category below will result in immediate termination of your account. Acceptable Use Explicitly opted in with you online. Each recipient subscribed to your list online and opted in for one or several types of mailings, for example by clicking one or more subject-related checkboxes that were unselected by default. Co-registration on a partner s site is OK as long as there are separate opt-in options for each list and it is clear to users that they are subscribing to your list. If you haven t sent the recipient in over 6 months, we recommend a reintroduction message reminding them what they subscribed to, and when. Explicitly opted in with you offline. Recipient completed your offline form, survey or participated in your contest and gave their express permission to be contacted by about specific subject(s), for example by ticking an empty checkbox. Gave you their business card at an event. If it s absolutely clear that by giving their card the recipient would be added to a list with a particular subject matter, you have permission. We recommend an introductory message reminding them what they subscribed to, and when. Explicitly opted in for the subject you are contacting them about. When opting in, it should be clear to the recipient what the nature of the mailings will be. For example, just because someone opted in for updates about a specific product doesn t mean you can also add them to your general newsletter or promotional mailings for other products. Unacceptable Use address copied from the Internet or other source. Just because someone published an address online, in a directory or on a business card, doesn t mean they ve given permission to be added to your mailing list. No sent to recipient s address in over 2 years. Even when proper permission is granted, it doesn t last forever. When too much time goes by, people forget they opted in and will consider your to be spam. The industry norm is that permission expires after 2 years of no contact. address obtained from a third party. If you purchased, rented, borrowed or otherwise acquired a list from another party, even if it s an opt-in list, the recipients didn t give their permission to hear from you specifically. Recipient is a customer but hasn t opted in. Just because someone is your customer doesn t give you explicit permission to send them marketing messages. They would first have to opt in for the specific subject about which you are contacting them. Page 1 of 5

2 September 24, address is generic and used by several people. You cannot to generic addresses like or because they are often role-based and the users of such addresses change frequently. The only exception to this rule would be if you knew the recipient and were sure that it was their permanent individual address. address is a distribution list or mailing list. You cannot send to any address that forwards to more than one person because it is impossible to determine whether all recipients have given permission, and there is no way for them to unsubscribe individually. Mandatory content Every you send using Infront Mailworks must include the following: A single-click unsubscribe link that instantly removes the subscriber from your list. The name and physical address of the sender. CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business Do you use in your business? The CAN-SPAM Act, a law that sets the rules for commercial , establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop ing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations. Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn t apply just to bulk . It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, including that promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for businessto-business . That means all for example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line must comply with the law. Each separate in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000, so non-compliance can be costly. But following the law isn t complicated. Here s a rundown of CAN-SPAM s main requirements: 1. Don t use false or misleading header information. Your From, To, Reply-To, and routing information including the originating domain name and address must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message. 2. Don t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message. 3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement. 4. Tell recipients where you re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations. 5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting from you in Page 2 of 5

3 the future. Craft the notice in a way that s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn t block these opt-out requests. 6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don t want to receive more messages from you, you can t sell or transfer their addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. 7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your marketing, you can t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible. 8. As specified in the Terms of Use, Infront Mailworks shall in no way be held responsible for your violation(s) of the CAN-SPAM Act. More information about CAN-SPAM Act please refer to United States Bureau of Consumer Protection website at: Compliance under Canada s Anti-Spam Law ("CASL") If you send s to Canadian recipients, whether you are located in Canada or not, as of July 1, 2014 you may be subject to An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act (informally known as Canada s Anti-Spam Law, CASL). If you send Commercial Electronic Messages to Canadian recipients, you are most likely subject to CASL regulation. Commercial Electronic Messages ("CEM"s) are defined as any electronic messages including s which encourage participation in a commercial activity, without regard to an expectation of profit. There are certain exceptions, but they are limited. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE S YOU SEND USING INFRONT MAILWORKS ARE SUBJECT TO CASL REGULATION. Failure to comply with CASL may result in severe administrative monetary penalties (up to $10,000,000 for organizations). As specified in the Terms of Use, Infront Mailworks shall in no way be held responsible for your violation(s) of CASL. If you are unsure whether your s Page 3 of 5

4 are subject to CASL, we suggest you consult an attorney. More information about CASL generally can also be found in at the Government of Canada s Anti-Spam website. Compliance under CASL is more stringent than under other anti-spam laws, and more stringent than the general guidelines given further up in this Policy. As a general rule, to be compliant under CASL you must: (1) have obtained valid consent to send a recipient a CEM and (2) your CEM must contain certain information, including an unsubscribe mechanism with certain requirements. Valid Consent under CASL When collecting an address (for example via a web form or paper form) for your mailing list, the following information must be present for the consent to be valid under CASL: The name of person or organization asking for consent; The specific purpose for which you are obtaining consent (e.g. receive offers from Company Name, Receive Company Name s newsletter ); A notice that the subscriber can withdraw their consent at any time; and Contact information, which must include a physical mailing address AND an electronic communications method, whether or phone or a web page contact form. A hyperlink to a web page with all this contact information is acceptable. If you are seeking consent on behalf of another organization, that third party organization must be identified as well. Content Requirements for a CEM under CASL Every CEM sent must include the following information: The name of the person or organization sending the CEM, or if the CEM is being sent on behalf of another person / organization, the name of the person / organization on whose behalf the CEM is sent; If the CEM is sent on behalf of another person / organization, a statement saying so; Contact information, which must include a physical mailing address AND an electronic communications method, whether or phone or a web page contact form. A hyperlink to a web page with all this contact information is acceptable; and A valid unsubscribe mechanism. Valid Unsubscribe Mechanism In order for the unsubscribe mechanism to conform to CASL requirements, it must: Enable the recipient (at no cost) to readily remove themselves from the mailing list; Stay valid for a minimum of 60 days after the CEM has been sent; and Process requests without delay and be effective not more than 10 business days after the request is made. Page 4 of 5

5 If you use the unsubscribe mechanism provided by Infront Mailworks, it will conform to these requirements. If you have determined that your s are subject to CASL regulation, you must adhere to all these requirements. Other Anti-Spam Legislation Depending on where you operate, you may be subject to additional anti-spam laws in force in certain countries. It is your responsibility to determine whether you are subject to your national anti-spam legislation, and if you are, to be compliant with said legislation. As outlined in the Terms of Use, Infront Mailworks shall in no way be held responsible for your violation of any anti-spam law which may be applicable to you, and may terminate your account for violation(s) of said laws. Unsubscribe If you have received an from one of our clients and wish to be unsubscribed, please forward it to Page 5 of 5