Despite the negative attitude towards this type of email communication, many companies still use newsletters for marketing activities. To satisfy your business interests, it is common practice to send advertising spam to those clients who have not given their consent to this, or it is carried out to all subscribers from the client database.

According to paragraph No. 118 of the Law of Ukraine « About electronic communications », spam is the unsolicited mass sending of advertising messages or emails in text or multimedia format to persons who have not expressed their desire to receive them. This definition, however, does not include notifications from companies and organizations that are providers of telecommunications services, as well as government agencies related to issues of their activities.

How email newsletters are regulated around the world

Different countries have different administrative tools that control electronic mailings of advertising. For example, in the USA this is the CAN-SPAM ACT law. Despite the strict penalties for violating the rules (the fine can exceed $40,000), it still provides the opportunity to send messages to different subscribers, but subject to the obligatory condition that the recipient can at any time refuse to receive them.

The regulation is relevant for the European Union GDPR , through which the protection of personal information of Internet users is ensured. Unlike the American law, it provides for penalties for violation of the procedure for using personal data, which can amount to about 20 million euros. Therefore, in order to avoid unplanned expenses in the form of fines, it is necessary to clearly understand its provisions, since they served as a model for writing a similar law in our country, which will come into force from the beginning of 2022.

What changes are coming?

First of all, there is a ban on the deliberate sending of advertising messages to user accounts in instant messengers, social networks and email, offering the purchase of any goods or services, without the prior approval of the addressee. But, on the other hand, it does not prohibit sending up to 5 messages to the same email address. However, the document does not stipulate the method of obtaining consent from the recipient of notifications.

The next point is that the sent message must provide a guaranteed opportunity for the subscriber to unsubscribe from receiving notifications at any time convenient for him. Therefore, it is necessary to pay close attention to the convenience of placing the opt-out link in the body of the notification. In addition, personal correspondence that does not have commercial implications is not prohibited.

What will be the fines?

This law provides for punishment not for sending messages as such, but for non-compliance with consumer rights and violation of the rules for providing advertising information. Thus, unscrupulous companies face:

  • prohibition on using the IP address or phone number from which spam notifications were sent;
  • a fine in the amount of 5 to 500 tax-free minimum income of citizens, which is an amount of 85 to 8,500 hryvnia;
  • a fine for non-compliance with advertising rules in the amount of five times the cost of mailing, but not less than 5,000 hryvnia.

Therefore, in order to protect themselves from penalties, marketing departments of companies need to determine legal methods for forming a client database for sending advertising notifications.