Let's begin with a few simple definitions as stated by the Canadian Government via the fightspam website (CASL) and the CRTC website. As there seems to be a lot of confusion out there, let's see if we can clear a few things up.
If you are sending a CEM to an electronic address, then you need to comply with three requirements.
You need to:
(1) obtain consent,
(2) provide identification information, and
(3) provide an unsubscribe mechanism.
That's not too difficult to understand. The confusion it seems, is in the execution. Most of us do not have a clear method of tracking when and where someone signed up. In fact it has been pretty loosey goosey for most of us in business. And we have all used a little "deception" – fine print buried in the Privacy Policy that states you are going to get emails from our partners and sponsors, etc. CASL is putting an end to that kind of behavior. Your opt-in must take a "positive action" (that does not mean un-checking a pre-checked box agreeing to a long list of terms that you know they will never read). CRTC states you must prove that each and every person you send a CEM to actually has stated they would like to receive your CEMs.
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