The CRTC issued the following statement on September 1, 2016 regarding an undertaking respecting Canada's anti-spam legislation:
"Kellogg Canada Inc. has voluntarily paid a monetary payment of $60,000 as part of an undertaking concerning an alleged violation of paragraph 6(1)(a) of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation. The Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer's investigation alleged commercial electronic messages were sent by Kellogg and/or its third party service providers during the period of 1 October 2014 to 16 December 2014 to recipients without consent. In addition to making a monetary payment, Kellogg Canada Inc. agreed to update and implement various components of their compliance program."
Section 6(1)(a) of CASL provides that it "is prohibited to send or cause or permit to be sent to an electronic address a commercial electronic message unless .... the person to whom the message is sent has consented to receiving it, whether the consent is express or implied."
We recently ran a series on the main requirements under CASL, which can be accessed at http://blog.blg.com/nfp/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=389, http://blog.blg.com/nfp/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=391, and http://blog.blg.com/nfp/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=392. It is important for everyone sending commercial electronic messages to remember the requirements for consent, content and unsubscribe mechanisms set out in the legislation.
Our CASL specialists would be happy to assist you with a review of e-mail practices to ensure compliance with Canada's anti-spam legislation.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.