Email Marketing Law

There are three main areas of legislation that you need to follow if you are using email marketing; they cover privacy, protection of personal information, and inclusion of company information in your emails:

1. Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003
UK email marketing law is primarily governed by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, which are enforced by the Information Commissioner. They apply to the sending of direct marketing messages by electronic means such as email.

The Information Commissioner provides a detailed online guidance for marketers on the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 PDF.

Email Marketing Law in Brief
In brief, this is what the law on email marketing requires:

“You cannot transmit, or instigate the transmission of, unsolicited marketing material by electronic mail to an individual subscriber unless they have previously notified you, the sender, that they consent, for the time being, to receiving such communications.”

All List4email email address owners have actively opted in to receive unsolicited third party marketing emails.

“You cannot transmit, or instigate the transmission of, any marketing by electronic mail (whether solicited or unsolicited) to any subscriber (whether corporate or individual) where the identity of the sender has been disguised or concealed; or a valid address to which the recipient can send an opt-out request has not been provided.

You have a general obligation to make sure the recipient is provided with a valid address for opt-out requests in every message. Should you receive an opt-out request, you must make sure you suppress that individual’s details immediately.”

You must follow this guidance in every email you send. Furthermore, under section 7.7 the List4email terms of business, you must ‘ensure that the recipient is given a simple means to opt-out of receiving further communications’.

Third party electronic mailing lists
The Information Commissioner guidance on the use of third party electronic mailing lists states that:

“If you wish to buy in or rent a list from a third party you can only use it if it was obtained on a clear prior consent basis, that is, where the intended recipient has actively consented to receiving unsolicited messages by electronic mail from third parties.”

All List4email email address owners agree to receive these emails through a double opt-inprocess, and so more than meet these requirements.

Note - The Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (2002/58/EC)
The EU Commission is reviewing the effectiveness of the regulatory framework concerning electronic communications and the UK Government is preparing its response in preparation for negotiations on revised legislation. It is envisaged that List4email data will continue to meet the requirements introduced in any new legislation.

2. Data Protection Legislation
If you purchase additional data fields from List4email which include named contact details, or you subsequently add personal details to your list, then you also need to comply with the Data Protection Act.

For example you will need to consider if notification to the Information Commissioners Office is required, how the information will be held securely, who will have access to personal information, and staff training in their responsibilities under the Data Protection Act.

More guidance about the Data Protection Act is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

3. Companies Act 1985
As of 1 January 2007, Companies in the UK must include certain regulatory information in their Email footers or they will breach the Companies Act and risk a fine.

Every Company should list its Company registration number, place of registration, and registered office address on its website, on Order Forms and in Emails. Such information is already required on "business letters" but the duty is being extended to websites, order forms and electronic documents.

More information is available from the Department for Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, and from Companies House.