CASL stands for Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, which regulates electronic communications in Canada.
Are you allowed to email existing clients under CASL?
This is a great question. First off, let’s understand what Customer Level Consent means. According to Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), Customer level consent refers to the specific consent given by an individual customer or recipient of electronic messages.
There are two types of consent that customers can provide you.
- Under CASL, your business in Canada must obtain customers’ express or implied consent before sending them commercial electronic messages, including emails, text messages, and social media messages.
- Express consent is obtained when the customer explicitly gives permission for the business to send them messages, while implied consent is obtained in certain situations, such as when the sender has an existing business relationship with the recipient.
What is an existing business relationship for implied consent?
Under CASL, an “existing business relationship” is a type of implied consent that allows businesses to send commercial electronic messages to customers without obtaining express consent.
How to qualify for an existing business relationship in Canada?
To qualify for an existing business relationship, the recipient must have purchased, entered into a contract, or inquired about a product or service from the business within the past two years.
Specific requirements must be met to qualify for an existing business relationship under CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation). For example, the relationship must be between the sender and the recipient but not with a third party. Also, the message must be relevant to the recipient’s business relationship with the sender.
Is implied consent valid for as long as I have an existing business relationship in Canada?
It’s important to note that an existing business relationship only provides implied consent for a limited period, and the recipient may still choose to unsubscribe from future messages. To ensure compliance with Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), businesses should keep track of the dates and details of any customer transactions or inquiries to demonstrate that they have an existing business relationship and can rely on implied consent.
What should I know about Customer Level Consent?
The customer level consent means the business must obtain consent from each customer before sending them commercial electronic messages. This is in contrast to obtaining consent at a more general level, such as through a sign-up form on a website, which may not necessarily reflect the specific consent of each individual customer.
Maintaining Consent – Unsubscribe
To ensure compliance with CASL, businesses should keep records of customer-level consent, including when and how consent was obtained, as well as any requests by customers to unsubscribe or revoke their consent.
Under the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), businesses must provide a clear and conspicuous unsubscribe mechanism in every commercial electronic message they send. This unsubscribe mechanism must be easy for the recipient to use and must allow them to opt out of receiving future messages from the sender.
How to comply with Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)?
The unsubscribe mechanism must include the following:
- A clear and prominent statement that the recipient can unsubscribe from future electronic messages;
- A functioning unsubscribe mechanism that is easy for the recipient to use; and
- The unsubscribe mechanism must be accessible for at least 60 days after the message is sent.
When a recipient clicks on the unsubscribe link, they should be directed to a web page or other mechanism that allows them to confirm that they want to unsubscribe. Once the recipient has confirmed their request, the business must stop sending them commercial electronic messages within 10 business days.
It’s important to note that businesses are prohibited from charging a fee, requiring the recipient to provide any information beyond an email address, or taking any steps beyond clicking the unsubscribe mechanism to unsubscribe.
By providing a clear and easy-to-use unsubscribe mechanism, businesses in Canada can ensure compliance with CASL and avoid penalties for sending unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
Get in touch with our expert team today for email marketing services with Customer Level Consent for your businesses in Canada that comply with the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
