Canada has adopted strict anti-spam laws for email sent to Canadian citizens which takes effect as of July 1, 2014 and differs significantly from the US CAN-SPAM law.
PoliteMail versions 4 and higher are fully CASL-compliant.
Unlike CAN-SPAM, the Canadian CASL requires senders have opt-in permission prior to sending commercial electronic messages. In other words, unsolicited email is NOT allowed, and not just email, but any type of electronic message such as txt/sms is covered.
Both marketers and sales people sending email to customers must be aware of the law, because it provides for civil penalties, allows for lawsuits from individuals, and holds officers of corporations liable for violations – with a maximum penalty of 10 million per violation.
Like CAN-SPAM, the CASL does allow email to be sent if there is implied consent, most often an existing business relationship, where the message is related to such business. Implied consent would be for messages such as inquiry answers, quotes and estimates, facilitating or information a transaction, factual information about an account, delivery products and services.
Implied consent does not apply if the recipient provides a statement that they person do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial email messages.
Also like CAN-SPAM, the CASL requires the identity of the sender be know, including a physical mailing and contact information such as phone number, email or web site address.
CASL requires an automated opt-out mechanism. Once a recipient opts out, you may not send any further commercial email to that address.
Please note that the full opt-in functionality is available in Version 4 of PoliteMail. Please speak with your PoliteMail representative to discuss your needs and how to best implement your PoliteMail solution.
