Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, and You

06.25.2014 | in Announcements Tips | by Ashley Hurshman

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, known as CASL, is changing the way Canadian businesses connect with target audiences online. At its core, CASL is designed to protect Canadians from receiving commercial electronic messages without consent or permission, including email, social networking, and text messages.

What this means is that messages sent to sell products, services, or encourage any type of commercial participation, must adhere to the regulations outlined by CASL. The majority of this new law will come into effect on July 2014 - here are some quick tips to ensure that you’re in compliance by then!

1. In order to successfully adapt to CASL before it’s in effect, you’ll need to act promptly. All commercial electronic messages sent after July 1st will require consent from each recipient. There will be no grace period for emails sent without consent past this date.

2. Acquiring express or implied consent from your existing contacts should be prioritized. Express consent dictates that a contact must actively confirm their intention to receive commercial electronic messages. On the other hand, implied consent relies on an existing business or non-business relationship between the sender and the recipient, and is effective for two years.

3. The design of every commercial electronic message must now adhere to the specific formatting requirements laid out by CASL. These include identifying the sender of all messages or on whose behalf the messages were sent, available contact information for that sender, and providing an accessible unsubscribing mechanism.

4. Maintaining a successful online marketing presence post CASL, will mean establishing measures to secure express consent moving forward. Consider openly identifying the purpose of your sign-up forms, and invest in a second layer of subscription confirmation to ensure that the correct email has been entered. Bear in mind that well displayed contact information and assurances that consent can be withdrawn at any time may secure additional subscriptions!

5. Finally, update your privacy policy to outline the purpose of consent acquisition, include a method to unsubscribe, and all relevant contact information for both yourself and the administrator of your consent lists.

Remember that reaching your target audience doesn’t always have to be a hassle. Adhering to these new laws as they come into effect will not only keep Canadian citizens protected from spam, it will illustrate to your contacts that you are devoted to keeping the web friendly and efficient. For more on how to reach your target demographic, contact Headspace!

Disclaimer

The content of this blog is not to be considered legal advice. To best determine how CASL applies to you, seek out the appropriate legal counsel. For more on CASL, refer to The Government of Canada’s official page.