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Anti Spam Laws -
European Union Spam Law : Electronic Communications Privacy Directive 2002. (Directive 2002/58/EC)

On 25th June 2002, the Council of the European Union formally adopted the Electronic Communications Privacy Directive, also known as Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. This Directive is the basis for the anti spam laws of all the EU member countries. Unlike EU Legislation which is immediately binding on member nations, a Directive requires that each member nation introduce their own anti spam legislation compatible with and reflecting the EU Directive and to do so within a reasonable period of time. At the time of writing, it is believed that every EU member nation has either enacted such legislation or is well down the road towards such legislation. The twenty seven current member nations are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

Prior to the EU's 2002 Electronic Communications Privacy Directive, numerous European countries already had some form of anti spam laws in place. There were vast differences between the approaches, the single biggest difference being that some were an "opt-out" model while others were "opt-in" models. Each country has or must subsequently amend their legislation or introduce new legislation to correspond with the EU Directive's very strong opt-in requirements.

Some comment has been made in media circles that a weakness of European Union anti spam directive is that, being separate legislation in each individual country, interpretation of these anti spam laws is left to the court systems of each individual member country. This raises the prospect of courts in different countries drawing differing conclusions as to interpretation and enforcement. This, it seems, weakens the general idea of a uniform law to apply throughout the European Union.

Summary of the Major Provisions of the European Union Spam Law : Electronic Communications Privacy Directive 2002. (Directive 2002/58/EC):

The directives covers not only email spam, but also spam via SMS and MMS.
Applies to all electronic communications received by or sent from networks in the European Union;
The definition of spam does not specify quantity. It appears that, in particular circumstances, a single email may constitute spam;
It also introduces restrictions on the use of cookies (more a privacy issue than a spam issue, so we'll not elaborate on that here)
The Directive takes an "opt-in" approach, making illegal the sending of commercial email without prior consent of the recipient;
Some commercial email is permitted without an explicit opt-in in certain specific circumstances (implied-opt-in, or soft-opt-in) including:
- limits the marketing to its own actual customer base
- limits the marketing to its own range of products and services ;
- has obtained the relevant e-mail address / SMS number direct from the recipient;
- has explained that messages may be sent to the address / number for direct marketing purposes; and
- has provided (both at that time of collecting the address / number and on an ongoing basis) a simple means by which the recipient can “opt-out” from receiving further messages, free of charge.
It is unlawful to disguise or conceal the identity of the sender;
Every email must include sender's name and return address;
Every email must provide clear, working opt-out instructions and opt-outs must be free of charge;

Penalties for breaches of the European Union Spam Law : Electronic Communications Privacy Directive 2002. (Directive 2002/58/EC):

BestPrac.Org must confess to being a shade out of its depth in providing here a reasonably accurate summary of the European Union anti spam law as it applies in each individual member nation. If any readers have expertise in this area and have up-to-date information that you can provide, we would appreciate your input and assistance in composing this section on European Anti Spam laws in a more meaningful way. Please write to us. We are particularly interested in the names & web sites of the various government authorities responsible for enforcement of the laws in each member nation, the specific legislation of each member nation, prescribed methods for the reporting of violations, plus how each member nation addresses penalties for breaches of their legislation.

Reporting Violations:

Further Information:

Member nation specific resources:

UK - The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003

Disclaimer:

The above is given in summary form only. It is not a comprehensive statement of every aspect of European anti spam law. This page is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advise. Please make your own enquiries and seek your own legal advise before relying on any statements made herein.

Stop Spam : Best Practice in Email Spam Prevention and Eradication

Anti Spam Laws - European Union Spam Law : Electronic Communications Privacy Directive 2002. (Directive 2002/58/EC)