How to Comply With the New CASL

CASL Compliance Canada – The Anti-Spam Legislation for 2014

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Contents of this article:

Understanding Express Consent
Add required message content
Send an express consent campaign
Export proof of consent
Updating your Signup/ Contact forms
CASL Exemptions

[/one-third][two-third last=true]Need help with getting your email campaign up to date with these new laws?
Contact us, for assistance in creating a CASL Compliance email campaign.

The new anti-spam legislation for CASL Compliance Canada has many business owners in an uproar trying to ensure they are following the law to a tee. There are two types of consent being introduced; the implied and the express consent.

Implied consent is commonly viewed as an interpretation while express consent requires action from both parties, the sender and the recipient.
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Understanding Implied and Express Consent

There are several different factors between implied and express consent that most were not aware of until the release of the new legislation.

Implied consent occurs when a recipient purchases a product, service or in the corporate industry signs a business deal, membership or contract with your organization within the past 24 months. For registered charities or political organizations, implied consent occurs when a recipient makes a donation or gift, volunteers or is in attendance of a meeting organized by your organization/charity.

There is also implied consent when a professional message is sent to an individual whose email address has been provided to you, conspicuously published or hasn’t stated they do not want to receive unsolicited messages.

When a recipient doesn’t meet any of the above scenarios, express consent is then required before any campaigns can be sent.

With express consent, it is required to have verbal or written agreement to receive specific types of messages. However, express consent is only considered valid if the following information has been included in your request for consent with stated recipient:

Clear description of purpose for obtaining consent
Clear description of messaging being sent
Name and contact information of requestor (including physical mailing address, email, phone number and domain address)
Statement for recipient to unsubscribe at any time

Required Content is Consent Messages

The CASL Legislation requires several pieces of information to be included in each campaign sent.

Sole Proprietor Name/Business Name
Physical Mailing Address
Contact Information (phone, email, fax if applicable)
Unsubscribe Link

Transition Period for CASL Legislation

There has been a set transition period from July 1, 2014 until July 1, 2017 for continued messaging to recipients whom have implied consent, unless unsubscribed. Once the 2017 cut off date comes around, messaging can only be sent to recipients with express consent or those who have valid CASL implied consent, which is 24 months after purchase date or six months after inquiry.

CASL Approved Express Consent Campaign

Sending out an express consent campaign is something you’ll want to consider doing in the next few months. If a lot of the recipients on your current list have provided you with implied consent, it is time to consider contacting subscribers to opt in to receiving continued emails.

Expressed consent is done by providing an action for the user to confirm their consent, such as a button click within email communication. This will allow you to acquire proof of consent which in turn is needed to prove your subscribers have consented under the CASL Compliance Legislation.

The information that is important to export is:

Name
Email
Optin Time
Optin IP Address
Confirm Time
Confirm IP Address

Updates to Signup & Contact Forms

For those that are currently extracting emails from contact and signup forms, it is important to update all forms to meet the requirements of CASL. To receive express consent from users completing forms, there will need to be a notation explaining what type of information is sent, a checkbox or button left unchecked beside the notation text for confirmation of reading. The user will be required to check this box to express consent allowing you to send future emails and promotional emails.

Examples;

Messages Exempt from CASL

There are types of electronic messages that will remain exempt from the CASL legislation for a variety of reasons.

Messages between individuals with an established personal relationship
Messages to associates within a business (employees, consultants, etc)
Responses to current customers/inquiries in previous six months
Messages accessed/opened in foreign country (United States, China, most of Europe)
Messages sent on behalf of charity, political organization for purpose of raising funds/soliciting contributions
Court order/legal right messages
Messages providing warranties, recalls, safety or security information about product/services purchased
Messages providing information about purchases, subscriptions, accounts, memberships, loans or other ongoing communicative relationships (includes delivery of product updates/upgrades)
Referral messages to recipient without existing relationship (single message only). Full name of referring person must be disclosed.

Any other message that does not meet the above criteria is required to have consent under the CASL Compliance Canada Anti Spam Legislation Law.