No one wants to receive spam. You should not want to send it.
To fight spam, the United States government issued the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003. In 2014, the Government of Canada issued CASL, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation.
If you’re conservative, respectful, and diligent with your email marketing, this legislation should be little burden to you.
If you’re aggressive, careless, and selfish, you’ll need to become much more diligent and respectful.
If you’re blatantly spamming and phishing, you could face fines up to $10,000,000 per violation.
This post is meant to serve as a basic introduction to and overview of CASL. To assure you’re not subject to civil or criminal penalties, you should review the law directly or solicit legal consultation.
Basics of CASL
- Regulates commercial electronic messages (CEMs), including emails and text messages
- Applies to individuals and companies that send CEMs within, from, or to Canada
- Functions more as an “Opt-In” law, not an “Opt-Out” law (like CAN-SPAM)
- Requires that you have express consent to send a CEM to someone
Emails to Which CASL Doesn't Apply
- Between family members and friends
- To people with whom you’ve done business in the past 24 months
- To people who’ve contacted you in the past 6 months
- In response to requests, inquiries, or complaints
CASL In Force
- Violations may result in criminal charges, civil charges, and personal liability for company officers and directors
- Violations may result in per-violation fines of $1,000,000 for individuals and $10,000,000 for companies
- Requires CEMs to be sent with express consent, include clear identification information about the sender, and provide an unsubscribe mechanism (both of which are automatically included in your BombBomb sends)
Tips to Comply with CASL
- Be forthright, straightforward, and honest in your personal and professional efforts
- Show respect for people, curate your email lists, segment email lists tightly, care about your reputation
- Don’t send email to people whose express consent you do not have
- Always make clear in your emails who you are, why they’re receiving the email, what their opportunity is, and how to take you up on it
- Convert people with implied consent to express consent
- Know that BombBomb manages your unsubscribe compliance in email sending
- Create your own diligent documentation process for in-person or over-the-phone express consent
- Make note of the exceptions listed above (24 months, 6 months, etc.)
Converting People from Implied to Express Consent
- Create a custom form to opt people into your emails with express consent
- Be very clear and explicit in that form what people will receive and how often they’ll receive it
- Consider setting up the form for a double opt-in (it’s a check box option when you set it up)
- Take the vid.us link for that form and link to it in a video email compelling people to opt in to future emails
- Send the email to everyone in your database whose consent is implied and ask for express consent.
- Know that the information BombBomb collects when people sign up through forms you make in your account constitutes express consent.
Helpful Links Related to CASL
Questions regarding CASL? Email our Deliverability experts at deliverability@bombbomb.com.