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Although there is no dedicated legislation for email in Canada there is PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ). PIPEDA covers the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of commercial activity and is coming up for legislative review later this year. Some provinces also have additional privacy requirements.
A Guide for Businesses and Organizations has some information on privacy responsibilities and legislation. The most important section for businesses is The 10 Principles that business must follow.
Simply put, these principles mean that you must have your customers’ explicit consent to email them. And when collecting the information you must inform them of what you will use their personal information for. Once you have attained their information you are responsible for it’s security and to not disclose it or use it for any other purpose then you asked them to consent to.
Logistically, PIPEDA can affect your email marketing program in many ways. For example adding an opt-in check box to sign up forms is mandatory. As well if you are collecting email addresses in store or over the phone, you should ask for consent to send them emails, and they should be aware that they are opting in to a newsletter program. Doing this is really just common sense and courtesy.
Canadian companies marketing on a international level must also be aware and sensitive to legislation in those areas.
The United States does have dedicated email legislation, called CAN-SPAM, there are also specific state laws, you can read more about CAN-SPAM and specific state legislation at www.spamlaws.com
Laws for The European Union and Other Countries can also be found at www.spamlaws.com.
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