Keywords:  GDPR, CASL, Consent

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)*

Please note that the following information is intended to be used as a guide and should not be accepted as legal advice. Vuture encourages seeking legal counsel to answer specific questions about CASL and how it might apply or affect your firm’s individual marketing efforts.

Some quick information regarding CASL:

§  Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is set to go into effect on July 1, 2014.

§  CASL regulates all Commercial Electronic Messages (CEMs) accessed from a computer system in Canada. CEMs encourage participation in a commercial activity and can include messages sent by any means of telecommunication including:

§  Text

§  Sound

§  Voice or image message

In order to comply with CASL, one must follow these three rules:

 

§  Consent – You must have express or implied consent to send a message.

§  Identification – You must clearly and simply identify yourselves and anyone else on whose behalf the message is sent.

§  Unsubscribe Mechanism – In every message you send, you must provide a way for recipients to unsubscribe from receiving messages in the future.

It is different from other regulations (CAN-SPAM) in that it requires express and/or implied consent.

Express consent requires an explicit action by the recipient to confirm that they want to continue to receive messages.

Note: The request for consent cannot be bundled with general terms and conditions but must be clearly identified to the recipient or persons from whom the consent is being sought.

Implied consent can cover a number of different scenarios. Most common:

 

§  Existing business relationship (within the last 2 years)

§  Existing non-business relationship (applies to charity and fundraising efforts)

§  Relevant legal notices or news where the recipient has conspicuously disclosed their electronic address (pursuant that there is no notice or statement that the person(s) does not wish to receive unsolicited CEMs)

§  In response to an inquiry and/or application (within the last 6 months)

*This Quick Sheet focuses on the majority of the legislation and does not provide information on Section 8, the section that deals with the installation of computer programs, or the sections that deal with the private right of action. For more information, please visit the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s official site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/casl-lcap.htm