Anti spam policy – Spotler MailPro

Fortunately, there is legislation pertaining to email marketing. Users of Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower)’s services often operate internationally, which means they have to deal with several different sets of laws and legislation. Not to worry, though, as Dutch legislation is one of the strictest in the world in this regard.

To make matters even clearer, Spotler MailPro has drawn up its own anti-spam policy. Users of our software or services must conform to these rules. First of all, Spotler defines spam as follows:

Spam is any email sent to people or organisations who did not give you explicit permission to contact them about the email’s subject matter.

Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower)’s anti-spam policy covers the following topics:

• Prior consent
• True identity of the sender
• Opt-out opportunity
• Spotler MailPro prohibits the use of third-party mailing lists
• Code of conduct
• Violation of Spotler MailPro’s anti-spam policy

Prior consent

For any email sent via the Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) platform, regardless of whether the recipient is a consumer or an organisation, the sender must have demonstrable prior consent from the recipient to contact them about the email’s subject matter.

An acquired opt-in is not valid indefinitely. Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) recommends that users no longer approach any email addresses with which there has been no further contact for more than 18 months. There is a risk that the original user has abandoned the email address and that it is currently being used as a spam trap.

The recipient consented to receive emails and was clearly informed about what they were consenting to. A line hidden in one’s general terms and conditions is not allowed. Unclear descriptions such as “you consent to receive email messages from this organisation and (selected) partners” are not specific enough. It must be clear to the recipient what they are consenting to. Note that recipients must actively give their consent. That means that pre-checked boxes are not allowed. There is one exception to this rule:

You may send existing clients emails about comparable products or services. The client must be given the opportunity to object to these messages when providing their contact information.

Consent must be demonstrable. When we receive complaints about spam, Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) may ask the sender to prove that they received the client’s consent. We may and will ask for information pertaining to:

• When and how was the email address collected?
  • Date and time?
  • Via a third party (partner registration/lottery/questionnaire)?
  • Newsletter signup?
  • Existing client relation?
  • Other
• If the case involves online data collection:
  • URL of the website at which the data was collected.
  • IP address of the email address’s owner
  • Opt-in type (single or double opt-in)
    • For a double opt-in: date and time of confirmation
• Is there an explicit declaration of consent/opt-in for the email address in question?
  • Text of the declaration (and, if applicable, a list of co-registration partners)
  • Did the recipient have the option to explicitly give their consent?
• If there was no explicit declaration of consent/opt-in, yet there was an existing client relation:
  • Nature of this client relation (e.g. purchase of product X)
  • How was the client informed – at the time of them providing their email address – that their email address might be used for marketing purposes and that they had the option to (immediately) object to this use?

Source: Rules of Procedure for Complaints against Mailers Participating in the Certified Senders Alliance (CSA)

Include legal notice in emails

We are a proud member of the CSA (Certified Senders Alliance) and we have obtained this status by meeting strict technical and organisational requirements. To ensure you as a customer can continue to benefit from this status, it is our responsibility to ensure that our customers act in accordance with these criteria. This keeps all our IP addresses on the whitelist.

The purpose of the legal notice is to be as transparent as possible to the recipient about the sender’s identity. In the legal notice, you provide information about your real identity as a sender. This includes name and address details, but also your Chamber of Commerce number, for example. This document from the Certified Senders Alliance explains the information you need to include in your legal notice.

Opt-out opportunity

Every email message must include an opt-out opportunity. Opting out of further messages must be free of charge and easy to do. That means a recipient cannot be made to first answer a questionnaire or log in somewhere before they can successfully opt out.

Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) prohibits the use of third-party mailing lists

Sending emails to addresses acquired (bought, traded, hired, borrowed, found or via any other method) through a third party is prohibited – and rightly so, as the sender did not acquire the recipient’s consent to send messages.

Code of conduct

As a user of the MailPro platform, you will refrain from storing and/or distributing material that does not comply with Dutch law. This includes material which:

• Is defamatory, libellous, offensive, racist, discriminating or hateful;
• Is erotic or pornographic in nature unless specifically agreed upon between the client and Spotler;
• Violates the rights of third parties, including but not limited to copyright, trademark right and portrait rights;
• Results in a violation of the privacy of third parties, including but not limited to the distribution of the personal information of third parties without consent or need or repeatedly bothering third parties with unwanted communication;
• Contains hyperlinks, torrents or similar information which the sender knows or should know refers to material that violates the rights of third parties;
• Contains malignant content, e.g. viruses or spyware.

Violation of Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower)’s anti-spam policy

All complaints received by Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) are forwarded to the client, so they can provide feedback and come up with a solution for the problem. If we do not receive feedback and a suitable solution to the sending of unwanted email messages within a 24-hour period, we may suspend the account in question until Webpower is convinced that the problem has been resolved in its entirety and that measures have been taken to prevent the sending of unwanted emails in the future. The client is responsible for all unwanted emails sent via their Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) account.

Clients who use their Spotler MailPro (formerly Webpower) account to send unwanted email messages will have their account suspended immediately. They will then be given two hours to stop the sending of unwanted emails.