The guidelines focus on opt-out communications, which gives the recipient the right to elect to be removed from a list, as opposed to the opt-in approach, which requires consent before marketing.
The guidelines also provide that information must detail exactly how to opt-out of future communications, how to remove one's name from a register, and how to prevent one's address being used, for example, for rental purposes. The DMA also requires its members to consult the e-mail preference service.
In any commercial e-mail, the marketer must accurately provide details of its identity, and there is now an additional obligation to provide off-line details of where the marketer can be contacted in the event that the consumer has some direct questions to put to the marketer.
Marketers must also check any e-mail lists it purchases to ensure that it is aware of those consumers who are opting out.
The e-mail preference service is at www.e-mps.org
