Europe
“EU Opt-In Directive”
Directive 2002/58/EC (specifies minimum legislation for member states) Directive 2003/58/EC (amending Council Directive 68/151/EEC) The EU Opt-In Directive covers all direct email marketing messages, including charitable and political messages.
Canada
“CASL – Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation”
S.C. 2010, c. 2
CASL covers all commercial electronic messages, including those sent by non-profit organizations. Commercial electronic messages are defined as messages that have as their purpose, or one of their purposes, to encourage participation in a commercial activity.
United States
“CAN-SPAM Act”
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003
The CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email messages with the primary purpose of advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.
Opt-In Requirements and Permission
United States
No, the CAN-SPAM Act allows direct marketing email messages to be sent to anyone, without permission, until the recipient explicitly requests that they cease (opt-out).
Europe
Yes, direct marketing email messages may be sent only to recipients who have given their prior consent (opt-in). Prior permission is required for business-to-consumer (B2C) communication covering all “natural persons”.
For business-to-business communication (B2B), i.e. “legal persons”, EU member states are free to make opt-out the minimum legislation. However, national legislation of member states can require opt-in for B2B email communication too.
Existing Business Relationship:
A business relationship in which contact information was obtained constitutes prior consent as long as a means to opt out was provided at the same time and continues to be provided with each such message and each message is about similar products or services by the same company.
