What is CASL?
CASL or Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation is one of the world's toughest forms of legislation when it comes to spam. CASL applies to absolutely all electronic messages (email, texts, messages) sent out by businesses in the sense of "commercial activity." The main component of CASL is that it requires all businesses to gain consent from the recipient prior sending any commercial electronic message or CEM within, to, or from Canada.
What Counts as Consent and How Do You Get it?
Consent, in this sense, is the act of verbal or written acknowledgment that the individual agrees fully to receiving CEM's. Written consent can be in the form of an electronic submission. The recipient's consent can be gained, to avoid persecution on behalf of CASL, in a variety of ways:
- Gaining a mailing address, email, phone number directly from the recipient
- The personal statement of consent from the individual whose consent is being sought
- Consent that is implied through the publication of contact information of the person whose consent is sought
- Implied through voluntary disclosure of contact information without the indication of not wanting to receive communications
What You Need to Provide When Asking For Consent Under CASL
When asking for consent from a recipient, the following must be provided under CASL:
- Who is seeking the consent (Name of business or person)
- Contact information (Phone number, mailing address, email or website)
- Statement of identification (Explaining the purpose and identity of the person seeking consent)
- Identity and contact info (Third-Parties if used to gain consent)
- Unsubscribe mechanism (Allows recipients to opt-out of communications electronically)
- Ability to opt-out ( Any type of communication sent by a third-party or your business)