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Use opt-in methods to build your mailing lists.
If you do not have a prior and relevant business
relationship with your intended recipients, ask
for their permission before you send. As an added
precaution, also consider asking them to confirm
their e-mail address. You'll wind up with a high
quality list of recipients who are receptive to
your message.
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Fully disclose relevant data sharing practices
at the point of collection. If you would like
the option to share personally identifiable
information with third parties, especially for
marketing purposes or for appends, clearly and
conspicuously disclose this when obtaining
consent.
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All commercial email subject lines will be
"honest and truthful." Do not engage in “bait
and switch” techniques to entice consumers to
click.
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All claims stated in the commercial email will
be honest and truthful. Commercial email
senders will adhere to accepted advertising
guiding principles (such as the
Better Business Bureau’s Code of Advertising)
and engage in truthful advertising. They should
not make deceptive or misleading representations
or omit material facts.
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All commercial email will clearly indicate the
identity of the product/service provider. This
reduces consumer confusion, adds legitimacy to the
message, and contributes to long-term trust in the
medium.
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All disclaimers and disclosures must be clear
and conspicuous to consumers. Consumers must
be able to notice, read or hear, and understand
the information. A disclaimer or disclosure is not
enough to remedy a false or deceptive claim.
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An unsubscribe
method will be presented noticeably in every
commercial email message sent.
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A simple online
method will be presented that does not require
entering additional information, such as other
personally identifiable information.
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The unsubscribe
request will be processed within five (5)
business days.
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Method should be
functional for at least 30 days after mailing.
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The unsubscribe
policy will be prominently displayed and will
include instructions on how consumers can remove
their email address from future mailings.
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Company should not
sell or lease the contact information of a
consumer that has unsubscribed.
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Requests to
unsubscribe are valid indefinitely, until the
consumer overrides this preference with a new
solicitation for contact (consent) or initiates
a new business relationship.
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Senders will practice thorough list maintenance
including the timely processing of bounces and
removal of hard bounces.
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All commercial email content will be suitable
for readers of all ages. No commercial email
will be sent out containing nudity, profanity and
other language and images of a disturbing and
offensive nature unless content of this nature is
specifically solicited.
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Commercial email senders will refrain from
using “dictionary attacks” as an email
solicitation method. Programs that use
“dictionary attacks” utilize technologies to
predict the existence of email addresses in order
to blast email to those addresses. Since these
programs are automated and consumer consent was
never obtained.
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Commercial email senders will refrain from
using lists that have been “harvested” using
questionable means. These are lists that are
gathered by special programs that search for email
addresses in popular Web sites, chat rooms, etc.
Most of these addresses are compiled without the
knowledge or consent of the email address owner.
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Commercial email senders will use their
legitimately acquired lists for their original
purpose. Companies who purchased a fully
verified opt-in list(s) must examine the terms and
conditions under which the addresses were
originally compiled and determine that all
recipients have in fact opted-in to the type of
mailing list the buyer intends to operate.