What You Need to Know About CASL & Surveying Respondents by Email

How CASL Affects Your Email Surveys

Agenda• Who we are• CASL intro• Does CASL affect you?• What CASL means for your research• Our solutions to comply with CASL• Conclusion

Who we are

Before we start….

Please do not take this as legal advice.

What is CASL?● Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation● Took effect on July 1st 2014● New regulations on commercial

electronic messages to an electronic address

Has a business offer.

Promotes or advertises a business offer.

Promotes a person who has something to do with the offer.

And…it is sent to an

electronic address.

Commercial Electronic Message

Commercial Electronic MessageTo send these, you must have:

Expressed consent OR Implied consent

Which one is a CEM?To: CustomerSubject: Special Offer

We have an amazing sale for you this week only! Enter the discount code SPECIALDEAL and receive 20% off your next purchase of $50 or more!

To: Prospective CustomerSubject: What’s new?

Here are the latest updates on news for your city: http://citynews.com.

By the way, are you interested in renting a car this weekend? Get your car rental here.

Does CASL affect you? Do you send electronic commercial

messages?

And do you send this in or from Canada?

Does CASL affect you?

If you answered yes, CASL could affect you.

CASL Exemptions• Registered charities may send CEMs to raise

funds.• Political organizations may send CEMs to get

donations.• Emails to family and friends.• Surveys for legitimate research purposes.

The Grey Area● Where do incentives fall?● General consensus among experts is to

follow CASL for these cases.

Key CASL Provisions:This new law will prohibit*:● Sending unwanted electronic communication

without consent. ● False or misleading representation online

communication.● Harvesting email addresses.● Altering transmission data without express

consent*This list is not exhaustive. More information, see http://fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/h_00039.html.

Expressed Consent• If obtained before July 1 2014, it is

valid until the recipient withdraws consent.

• Otherwise, it does not expire.• To get Expressed Consent – fully inform

recpients and have a clear ask.

Implied ConsentExisting business relationship• Bought or inquired about a good or service.

Existing non-business relationship • Membership, association, charity, political

party• Recipient’s email is considered conspicuous

Implied ConsentFor lists before July 1st 2014 – you have 36 months to get expressed consent.

For lists after July 1st 2014 – you have two years to get expressed consent.

Key “Don’t’s” and “Do’s”Don’t...

● Buy lists where consent isn’t confirmed.

● Scrape social media for emails.● Send unwanted content.● Contact customers who haven’t

purchased in >2yrs or requested info in >6 months.

● Email people with no consent asking for expressed consent after July 1st 2014.

Do...● Find out what country your

customers are from.● Track CRM info like last purchase

date, etc.● Have an “opt-out” mechanism.● Make subject lines and link text

clear.● Clearly identify yourself.● Include current contact

information.● Have an email policy on your site

separate from terms & conditions.’● Seek to get expressed consent

from new and existing contacts.

Solutions to comply with CASL1.Use features available in your survey

software 2.Buy respondents through panel

companies3.Look at new ways of collecting online

feedback

Solution #1: FluidSurveys features

Solution #2: Cint Panels● Double opt-in● Opt-out mechanism● Clear contact information

Solution #3: GetPulse.com

Summary● Who we are● CASL intro● Does CASL affect you?● What CASL means for your research● Our solutions to comply with CASL● Conclusion

Q&A time

More InformationVisit these sites:● Government of Canada: www.fightspam.gc.ca● CRTC: www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/casl-lcap.htm● Industry Canada: www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03390.html● Office of the Privy Commissioner of Canada:

www.priv.gc.ca/resource/op-vpel/spam_index_e.asp

Contact usFor CASL related questions:shannon@fluidsurveys.com

For technical support:support@fluidsurveys.com

Thank You!