Email marketing is a great way to connect with B2B audiences while providing valuable updates and content. But perhaps it would be a good idea to have a quick recap of email marketing laws and regulations so you don’t accidentally fall into hot waters. In this article, you’ll find answers to questions about CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA, PECR, and more.
Email marketing is a great way to connect with B2B audiences while providing valuable updates and content.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a quick recap of email marketing laws and regulations so you don’t accidentally fall into hot waters. In this article, you’ll find answers to questions about CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA, PECR, and more.
The consequences of non-compliance with email marketing laws can be severe, including fines, legal action, and damage to your business’s reputation.
With great reach comes great responsibility. If the email you are sending is a commercial email, then it falls under at least one of many spam and data protection regulations.
The GDPR is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). GDPR establishes the requirement for explicit and informed consent for data processing, the right for individuals to access, correct, or delete their data, and the obligation for organizations to implement strong data protection measures and breach notification protocols. GDPR applies to any organization worldwide that processes the personal data of EU citizens. Non-compliance with GDPR can result in fines ranging from 2-4% of a company’s global revenue, or $11.2-22.3 million.
The CAN-SPAM Act governs commercial email communications in the United States. Key provisions include the requirement for email subject lines to accurately represent the content of the message, the necessity of providing recipients with a straightforward means of opting out from further emails, the inclusion of clear sender identification and contact information, and the obligation to label email content as an advertisement when promotional content is involved. Legal penalties for violations can be as high as $43,792 per email, making it crucial for email marketers to understand and adhere to its provisions.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a comprehensive privacy law that specifically addresses the protection of California residents' personal data. The CCPA grants California consumers rights concerning their personal information, including the right to know what data is collected, the right to have it deleted, and the right to opt out of the sale of their data to third parties. Businesses are required to be more transparent about their data practices and to provide consumers with the means to control their data. The CCPA also requires businesses to provide notifications for data security and breach notifications. Penalties for violations are calculated according to $7500 per record.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) is a set of regulations in the United Kingdom that govern electronic communications, including email marketing and the use of cookies. It requires businesses and organizations to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails, text messages, or using cookies to track their online behavior. PECR also mandates clear and accessible opt-out mechanisms, ensuring that individuals have the ability to control the communications they receive. Penalties for violations can go up to 500,000 GBP.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a U.S. federal law which safeguards the privacy and security of individuals' health information. It grants patients the ability to access, amend, and control the sharing of their PHI (Personal Health Information). It also sets standards for the protection of electronic health information, requiring entities handling PHI to implement security measures to ensure confidentiality and integrity. Penalties for violations range from $1000-50,000 if the violation occurred even after there was reasonable care, and $50,000-15,00,000 if there is willful neglect.
These laws might seem imposing at first, especially if you just finished crafting an email marketing strategy without knowing about them. But the laws are very simple when boiled down to their essence; respect consent, be honest with the information you share, and allow customers to unsubscribe from your emails whenever they wish to do so. Variations of these laws exist in different countries, under different names.
Canada: Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires businesses to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails. Additionally, it prohibits businesses from using false or misleading subject lines and requires them to include their physical address in the message.
Brazil: The Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD) follows similar guidelines as the GDPR of the EU.
African Union: The African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection requires businesses to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails.
India: The Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules requires businesses to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails.
China: The Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China requires businesses to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails.
Korea: The Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection requires businesses to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails.
Japan: The Act on the Protection of Personal Information requires businesses to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails.
Australia: The Australian Privacy Principles requires businesses to obtain consent and provide a simple way for the recipient to not receive further communications.
Now we have a better understanding of how email marketing laws look around the globe + we know what the law wants from us. How does that directly translate onto your email marketing campaign?
To ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations, businesses need to take several steps:
Opt-in means that individuals have explicitly given their consent to receive marketing emails from your business. Opt-out means that individuals have the right to request that your business stop sending them marketing emails.
However, even if you follow the rules, there are people who do not. These people are called Cybercriminals and they use their lack of rule-following to gain unauthorized access to email accounts and steal sensitive information. Email security is a critical aspect of online communication. To protect against these threats posed by cybercriminals, it is essential to implement relevant email security measures.
DomainKeys Identified Mail is an email authentication method that uses digital signatures to verify the authenticity of an email message. DKIM adds a digital signature to the header of an email message, which can be verified by the recipient’s mail server. This ensures that the email message was sent by the domain it claims to be from and has not been tampered with.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication method that verifies the sender’s IP address against a list of authorized IP addresses for the domain. SPF helps prevent email spoofing and ensures that only authorized senders can send emails from a particular domain.
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is an email authentication protocol that builds on DKIM and SPF. DMARC provides a way for domain owners to specify how their emails should be handled if they fail authentication checks. DMARC can instruct mail servers to quarantine or reject emails that fail authentication checks, reducing the risk of phishing attacks.
Email marketing compliance is an important aspect of any business’s marketing strategy, but businesses need to comply with relevant laws and regulations when sending marketing emails. Knowledge of GDPR would serve as a good base structure if you are not sure which laws apply to your target market. Failure to comply with email marketing laws can result in severe penalties such as fines and legal action against your business. We strongly recommend carefully reviewing email marketing laws before crafting any email marketing campaigns. Please reach out to relevant authorities if you require further assistance.
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