Need more information?
A. What matters is the “primary purpose” of the message. To determine the primary purpose, remember that an email can contain three different types of information:
- Commercial content – which advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for a commercial purpose;
- Transactional or relationship content – which facilitates an already agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer about an ongoing transaction; and
- Other content – which is neither commercial nor transactional or relationship.
If the message contains only commercial content, its primary purpose is commercial and it must comply with the requirements of CAN-SPAM. If it contains only transactional or relationship content, its primary purpose is transactional or relationship. In that case, it may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.
Q. How do I know if what I’m sending is a transactional or relationship message?
- facilitates or confirms a commercial transaction that the recipient already has agreed to;
- gives warranty, recall, safety, or security information about a product or service;
- gives information about a change in terms or features or account balance information regarding a membership, subscription, account, loan or other ongoing commercial relationship;
- provides information about an employment relationship or employee benefits; or
- delivers goods or services as part of a transaction that the recipient already has agreed to.
Q. What if the message combines commercial content and transactional or relationship content?
A. It’s common for email sent by businesses to mix commercial content and transactional or relationship content . When an email contains both kinds of content, the primary purpose of the message is the deciding factor. Continue reading “Q. How do I know if the CAN-SPAM Act covers email my business is sending?”