Sending bulk emails: unwanted messages for the recipient.
Spam, everyone knows it. Invading our mailboxes, it's received with anger or disgust and imposes the use of filering software. This non-consensual abuse seems out of control and penalizes the whole emailing industry . Yet it defines by its undesirability a new relation to advertising by e-mail, that of the respect of the prospect.
How to define spam?
It's the American brand Spiced Pork And Ham, a deli in low quality box, which gave birth to the word SPAM. Intended mostly for advertising purposes, these unwanted e-mails can also be disguised as calls for charity, messages of a political nature. They can additionally be the way to set up a financial scam. Unlike sending a newsletter or emailing to which the recipient has registered, spamming is characterized by a hidden sender who has obtained email addresses illegally. An answer or an unsubscription are therefore mostly impossible.
Spam and phishing, legal aspects
In respect to the definition of spam, phishing or baiting is for the fraudster to appropriate the identity of an organization known to the recipient (administration, bank) in order to collect the data of the latter. In general, the sender is obliged to respect the rules on data protection (law "Informatique et libertés", 6 of January 1978, CNIL). Under French law, spam is considered a fraud. European directives have also been put in place. That of the European Parliament, dating from 2002, requires that the sender obtains the opt-in of the recipients for the sending of advertising e-mail. In 2012, the European Commission published a project to regulate the electronic identification of legal and natural persons.
See also:
- Definition of spam, emailing abuse
- Comply to French law with your email marketing campaigns
- Professional emailing tightly controlled by Swiss law
- Ensure compliance with Belgian law during professional email campaigns
- Conduct professional email campaigns in accordance with Canadian law