Email and the Law

The end of Safe Harbour for email marketing

Tuesday's finding of the European Court with regards the Safe Harbor Scheme (SHS) no longer being recognised as providing adequate protection for data transferred to the USA gives rise to fundamental concerns for email marketing. On these pages we warned of the risks of sending data to the USA well before the access that NSA … READ MORE »

The validity of endorsement in email marketing

A few weeks ago we mentioned endorsements, pointing out that they were an effective way of generating click throughs and completions and are particularly effective in email marketing. The post was mainly practical but the Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP) has come out with guidance on the matter.  The advice, which is described as for … READ MORE »

CAP Help Note on Testimonials & Endorsements

We covered the practical use of testimonials a few weeks ago, endorsing them, so to speak, as extremely useful in email marketing. Right after publication, the Committee of Advertising Practice produced a Help Note on Testimonials and Endorsements (the Guidelines) which thankfully contain no contradictions of the main thrust of the article.  The Guidelines tend … READ MORE »

The Consumer Rights Act 2015

The Consumer Rights Act (the Act) 2015 will come into force on 1 October this year. Its provisions will probably have a significant effect on those engaged in email marketing, especially with regards to contracts. For some, notably those selling digital content or using it in promotions, it will give rise to training requirements.  The … READ MORE »

Consumer Rights Act 2015, an overview

This article is a brief introduction to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the Act) which some of those engaged in email marketing suggest is the most important consumer legislation for some years. We will be returning to the Act in detail from time to time. Most of the provisions of the Act will come into … READ MORE »

Cookie monsters threatening email marketing

The heading is not strictly descriptive of this article, something I would argue against in normal circumstances, but I couldn’t let such an opportunity pass. I knew you would realise I was talking about those little ‘tags’ that allow tracking of user activity on websites. Email marketing software depends to a great extent on them. … READ MORE »

Data destruction and email marketing

Email marketing’s dependence on digital information has produced situations where a word in common usage is just not precise enough. Take destroy for instance. One dictionary definition is ‘to ruin completely’. It is not quite that straightforward once we start storing data on computers. The data needs to be legally secure. The Data Protection Act  tells … READ MORE »

Destroying personal data

Always make sure that your clients are protected! The Data Protection Act (the Act) has 8 Principles, the fifth of which has the requirement that ‘personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes’. You must delete such data. Delete is … READ MORE »

Self-protection in email marketing

Sometimes there is a certain sympathy when a company is fined for an action which others had been considering. Managing risk is an essential skill in email marketing and when a company, even a competitor, falls just the wrong side of the line the first thought that goes through most people’s mind is relief that … READ MORE »

The safety of your email marketing lists

There is a saying which goes along the lines of: if you get the basics right, the rest will follow. I’m not sure that’s entirely right but the reverse is spot on. You can’t do anything without the fundamentals in place. A large travel insurance company has recently been heavily fined for contravention of the … READ MORE »

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