Guidance on direct marketing using electronic mail
Due to the Data (Use and Access) Act coming into law on 19 June 2025, this guidance is under review and may be subject to change. The Plans for new and updated guidance page will tell you about which guidance will be updated and when this will happen.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (as amended) (PECR) cover the sending of electronic mail for direct marketing purposes.
This guidance discusses electronic mail marketing in detail. Read it if you have detailed questions not answered in the Guide to PECR, or if you need a deeper understanding of how PECR applies to electronic mail marketing.
This guidance covers what you must do to comply with PECR if you want to send direct marketing by electronic mail. Where this guidance uses the word “must”, this means that the law requires you to do something (so it’s a legal requirement). Where we use the word “should”, this is what we consider important to help you comply. You should follow this unless you have a good reason not to (good practice). However, you may take a different approach and still comply. Where we use the word “could” this refers to an option(s) that you may want to consider to help you comply (good practice). We have highlighted these words for ease.
If you haven’t yet read the electronic mail marketing page in the Guide to PECR, you may find it useful to read that first. It introduces this topic and sets out the key points you need to know, along with a practical checklist to help you comply.
Contents
What is electronic mail marketing?
- Why is it important to know the PECR rules before sending electronic mail marketing?
- What is electronic mail?
- What is direct marketing?
- Do we need to know the name of the person we want to send the marketing to for PECR to apply?
What are the rules on direct marketing using electronic mail?
- Who is responsible for complying with the rules on sending marketing by electronic mail?
- What are the rules on sending marketing by electronic mail?
- What does “solicited” and “unsolicited” mean?
- What is consent?
- What information do we need to provide when sending marketing by electronic mail?
How do we comply with the rules on sending marketing by electronic mail?
- How do we use consent to send marketing by electronic mail?
- How do we use the soft opt-in to send marketing by electronic mail?
- Can we use the soft opt-in for fundraising or campaigning?
- Can we use bought-in lists to send electronic mail marketing?
- Can we use publicly available contact details to send marketing by electronic mail?
- Can we ask people to send our electronic mail marketing?
- Can people object to our electronic mail marketing?