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7 Ways to Be Mistaken for a Spammer

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the mispell-male-genitalia-i-dare-you dept.

ancientribe writes "The "This is Spam" button popping up on many service providers' email services can be empowering for a user, but it can also be the kiss of death for a legitimate business that gets canned with a click of that button. Dark Reading has a story on seven common missteps that can lead to a case of mistaken spammmer identity for a legit business trying to send its marketing email, newsletters or other correspondence."

2 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. 1, 2 and 3 is spam by gorbachev · · Score: 3, Informative

    1. Ignoring "unsubscribe" requests.
    2. List "repurposing."
    3. Providing unclear privacy checkbox instructions, and ignoring users' responses.

    If the "legitimate" emailer is doing any of these, that's not "being mistaken for a spammer". That's good old fashioned spam, pure and simple.

    1) and potentially 3) are violations of the CAN SPAM Act and will land the "legitimate" marketer in legal trouble (well, they would, if someone was actually enforcing the CAN SPAM Act).

    --
    In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
  2. Re:It's not just email! by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 3, Informative

    Only in the absense of data protection laws. Try this in the EU and the fines will be a lot more than whatever you might have made by selling the list.

    It's more than that Firstly (at least in the UK) it's a criminal offence, for which you get a record, and the fines are unlimited (for a large breach you can write off your company there and then). Plus they can serve you with an enforcement notice - preventing you from processing personal data (wave byebye to your customer database) and that's backed by criminal law too.

    See the out-law summary

    Needless to say here we take the DPA *very* seriously.