Anti-Spam Law and the CASLPA Member
By Dawn Kelly, Director of Finance and Operations, SAC This article has been republished from the Summer 2013 issue of Communiqué. Please note that this article was originally published when Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) was called the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA).What It Means
Canada’s new anti-spam law is the toughest in the world. This law is designed to prohibit people from sending commercial electronic messages (CEMs) (e.g. messages sent via email, video, Facebook, Twitter) to recipients who have not consented to being sent such messages. The law will likely come into effect in late 2014.
The law assumes that everyone who sends bulk emails is spamming and stipulates that the organization sending the message must first establish a relationship with the people they wish to send information to.
Email marketing will now be based on a consumer opt-in approach, which means that businesses must get consent prior to sending commercial email or have a pre-existing business relationship with a consumer. You will have to say, “Yes, I would like to receive information from you,” instead of saying “No, I don’t want to receive information from you.”
How does this affect CASLPA members?
CASLPA is a registered charity and is exempt from some of the legislation (a sender has an existing non-business relationship with the recipient if the sender is a registered charity). Emails that provide information about ongoing subscription, membership or account information are exempt from this law.
You will still receive your membership renewal by email, however you must now state whether you’d like to continue receiving other CASLPA information like E-news, email flashes, Communiqué, continuing education events, exam and certification notices. Your renewal form now has a check-box to allow you to opt-in to these messages.
Please note that if you do not click the box on the member renewal form allowing CASLPA to send you emails, CASLPA will have to revert to mailing information to our members. This, in turn, will increase member costs and perhaps prevent you from receiving important information in a timely manner.
Dawn Kelly
Director of Finance and Operations, SAC
dawn@sac-oac.ca
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