Is this legal?

[annaboleyn]

My CEO suggested we do the following. I’d like to know if

A) is is legal?

B) is it advisable email marketing practice?

We held an online event the other day. Went well, lots of happy attendees..

We didn’t say that attendees would be signed up to our mailing list but my CEO now wants to add the attendee list to our main mailing list anyway.

What makes this more questionable is that we even sent a follow up email to the attendee list the other day asking if anyone would like to sign up to our main email list. So adding them to the attendee list would look kinda strange if we went and did it anyway.

Seems like I’ve answered my own question but the flip side is that I know email addresses get shared and put on other lists all the time so just wondered if it was worth a shot anyway.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@annaboleyn As i understand GDPR, you have to state how you will use data at the point of collection. This could be something in your T&Cs .

You also have to have a basis for processing (in this case probably legitimate interest), and a few other things like the length of time you'd keep the data, available for the user to review.

I don't believe these conditions are satisfied, so probably not legal.

Will this improper data usage be discovered? If discovered, will it be investigated? If investigated, will there be consequences? Probably not, to all three. But that's not what you were asking.

 

[bryannahdawn]

@annaboleyn Is it legal?
That’s a gray area that depends on your jurisdiction as well as your user’s jurisdiction.

Is it a common practice?
Depends some on your industry, but yes, most likely.

Is it ethical?
Depends on who you ask. Some people view emails more closely to public information, others see them as very private things.

Is it a best practice to do?
I’d lean towards no in the series of events you described. Had you not sent a follow up email asking them to join it would feel less intrusive to me. With that email going out it feels like you are ignoring what your user wants.

Best practice would be to inform the user they will be contacted in the future for promotional purposes with an option to opt out, when they sign up or provide the email address.

If you do decide to contact them, Jake sure you have a very easy and clear way to unsubscribe and respect their choice.

 

[mixey]

@annaboleyn The way you did it isn't legal because you didn't inform them or ask for consent at the point of signup.

BUT.... There is a gray area for you

You mentioned the online event went well and lots of happy attendees. Why not do personalized outreach to each attendee to chat about their experience with the online event?

Form those connections, then ultimately if they're the right fit, turn them into a qualified lead. Easy. Peazy.

Just remember: When you start everything with marketing, you'll have laws and limitations but building a personalized connection with someone is and always will be LEGAL.

So when in doubt, dive into the gray area my friend. All the best

 

[daviss9097]

@annaboleyn I did this, its fine. The ones that don't want email will unsubscribe or ask you to remove them.

 

[badumtish]

@annaboleyn It's spam acting, if you bring a list like that to ActiveCampaign, Infusionsoft, or any top-notch email marketing platform, they going to reject you as client.

Explain to your CEO that people RECEIVING UNWANTED COMMUNICATION are most willing to report the email AS SPAM and the brand is going to have its domains and ip's blacklisted for sure. Your email deliverability will be hurt almost forever.

is He just not well-inform or desperate?

 

[j_ouzts07]

@annaboleyn It depends on where you are. If you're in Canada, the EU, or just about anywhere except the US, it's probably illegal.

GDPR.eu makes it clear that “the GDPR does not ban email marketing by any means.” But the regulation is “pro-consumer,” which, while not necessarily synonymous with anti-business, does mean that it makes things more difficult for email marketers.

GDPR Article 6 outlines the circumstances under which you can store or use someone’s data. The typical scenarios are when:

The person consented to the specific way or ways you’ll be using their data.

The use is necessary to perform a contractual obligation you have to the person.

You’re using the data at the request of the person before entering into a contract.

The use is necessary to fulfill a legal obligation.

If you're in the US, it's almost certainly OK.

According to FTC attorney Christopher Brown, “The CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t require initiators of commercial email to get recipients’ consent before sending them a commercial email. In other words, there is no opt-in requirement [emphasis added].”