What is CAN-SPAM?

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) regulates commercial email and requires businesses to allow recipients to opt-out of future messages.

CAN-SPAM does not require a business to get a person’s permission to send them an email, but it does require the business to allow people to unsubscribe from receiving additional emails.

Here are other CAN-SPAM provisions that affect email marketing:

• Almost all emails must include the business’s mailing address;
• Deceptive content is prohibited, such as fraudulent subject lines and return addresses;
• Automated harvesting of email addresses from websites is prohibited;
• Businesses who have procured spammers’ services can be implicated.

Sarah Griffith

Sarah Griffith is Executive Editor of BubbleLife.com, an Advice Interactive Group product. She’s worked with BubbleLife since 2011, transitioning to Advice during BubbleLife’s acquisition in 2017. Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism-Public Relations from Baylor University and has a passion for all things related to content. She has formerly served in multiple roles at BubbleLife, including Digital Marketing Consultant, Account Executive, Business Editor, and Neighborhood Editor, helping expand the company from eight community websites in Dallas-Fort Worth to more than 250 nationwide. When out of the office, Sarah can typically be found listening to live music and engaging in a never-ending hunt for the best queso in Dallas.