Spam
We know you hate spam. I don't know of anyone who doesn't.
We want to stop the spread of spam as much as you do.
Bill C-27 is coming!
Once it is passed, Bill C-27 (the Electronic Commerce Protection Act) will augment PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act).
This Act will make it even more crucial you have clear, legal policies in place for managing your email database.
Read "A Checklist of To-Do's" here.
CAN-SPAM Compliance
CAN-Spam has been recently updated. You can read the updated Act here.
Return Path has an excellent breakdown of these changes (in lay language) here.
CAN-Spam was enacted to try and stem the overwhelming flood of unsolicited emails.
Wikipedia clarifies how CAN-SPAM defines spam:
CAN-SPAM defines spam as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose)." It exempts "transactional or relationship messages."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_Spam_Act_of_2003)
In order to make sure we are compliant with the CAN-SPAM legislation, we comply with current best practices like:
- providing a prominently placed and functioning unsubscribe link on every email we send (this unsubscribe email address is tested for functionality before each campaign is sent). Your contacts only have to send one email requesting they be removed from your mailing list
- Single sender and separate functional email address provided for all emails.
- responding promptly and personally to each unsubscribe request
- removing the contact information from the database within 3 days (and before the next email is sent)
- providing a mailing address and postal code in each email we send
- keeping your contacts safe - they are never disclosed in any way to anyone outside your company or ours
- maintaining clean DNS and header information - we do not forge our headers to make it look like your email is coming from your corporate domain - another reason we set up sacrificial domains
- identifying emails sent to lists that are not explicity opt-in with a disclaimer advising the recipient the email is commercial in nature
