Cold Email vs Spam: Is It Legal To Send Unsolicited Email?

Cold emailing is legal.

However, cold email is often confused with spam, which is illegal in most cases.

Most countries have introduced anti-spam laws such as the CAN-SPAM ACT to prevent people from sending spam emails.

In this article, I will cover everything you need to know about how to legally send cold emails:

1. Cold email vs spam: What's the difference?
2. Is cold emailing illegal?
3. Is cold email legal in the United States?
4. Is cold email legal in the United Kingdom?
5. Is cold email legal in the European Union (EU)?
6. Is cold email legal in Canada?
7. Four tips on how to send cold emails legally

Disclaimer: This article is not legal advice. The information in this article is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not be up-to-date with current laws in your jurisdiction.

Cold email vs spam: What's the difference?

A cold email is defined as an unsolicited email that you send to someone that you have had no prior contact with.

Spamhaus defines spam as: "An electronic message is "spam" if (A) the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND (B) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent."

An email needs to have all of the following three characteristics to be defined as spam:

1. Sent in bulk, meaning that you send the same email to hundreds or thousands of people.
2. Not personalized, meaning that your email can be applied equally to any number of recipients.
3. Unsolicited, meaning that the recipient has not given express or implied consent to receive your email.

An email being unsolicited (cold email) does not make it spam. It only becomes spam if it is also sent in bulk and is not personalized.

Spam emails almost always land in the spam/junk folder. Whereas cold emails, when sent correctly, land in the primary inbox.

Spam email characteristics:

• Sent in bulk.
• Not personalized.
• Unsolicited (no implied consent).
• Sending emails to personal email addresses.
• The sender doesn’t know who the recipients are (not targeted).
• The email is not helpful or relevant to the recipient.

Cold email characteristics:

• Intentionally sent and personalized to the recipient. The sender knows who he/she is sending emails to.
• The email is relevant to the recipient and provides value.
• Allows the recipient to opt-out of future emails. You can read my other article to learn if you need to include an unsubscribe link in your cold emails: Should You Add An Unsubscribe Link To Your Cold Emails?

When done correctly, cold emailing is legal. However, it is important to review the relevant anti-spam laws in the countries that you intend to send cold emails to, to stay on the right side of the law.

• United States
• United Kingdom
• European Union
• Canada

Is cold emailing illegal?

Cold emailing is not illegal in most jurisdictions.

However, many people confuse cold email with spam email, which are not the same thing.

Governments in different countries have introduced laws to regulate spam emailing. This is why it’s important for sales professionals to understand the differences between cold email and spam email.

Sending unsolicited emails to personal email addresses is illegal. It is very important that you only send emails to relevant business emails.

Is cold email legal in the United States?

Cold email is legal in the United States.

However, it is important that you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.

The CAN-SPAM Act outlines the legal requirements for all commercial messages (emails) that are sent to advertise or promote a product or service.

What does the law states

The CAN-SPAM Act states that recipients have the right to opt-out of receiving emails and includes penalties up to $50,120.00 USD for violations. This law applies to all commercial email messages, and is not just applicable to bulk emails.

How to comply

• You must use accurate header information. Your “From”, “To” and “Reply-To” must be accurate and not misleading.

• Your subject lines must not be deceptive and must represent the true content of your email.

• State what your email is about. You must mention that your email is an advertisement.

• Mention your physical location. You should add this to your email signature. This can be your street address or your post office box that you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service.

• Tell the recipient how they can opt-out of receiving future emails from you. You can read my other article to learn how to do this without using an unsubscribe link.

Is cold email legal in the United Kingdom?

Cold email is legal in the United Kingdom, however, you should be aware of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

What does the law states

In the United Kingdom, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) requires businesses to obtain prior consent before sending unsolicited commercial email to individuals.

PECR also requires businesses to include a valid contact address so that recipients can opt-out or unsubscribe.

You might be thinking, how can you send cold emails in the UK if you need to first receive consent?

You can’t send cold emails to private individuals, but you can send cold emails to businesses.

You are allowed to send commercial emails to people that have given you consent first through a third party.

For example, a re-seller or a corporation in the same group as yours. An example could be if a potential client has already opted in to receive emails from your parent company, then you can send them cold emails.

How to comply

Apart from complying with the above regulations, below are some things you can do to stay compliant in the UK:

• Allow your recipients to opt out of future emails.
• Provide your business address (you can do this in your signature).
• Don’t use deceptive subject lines. Your subject line has to be relevant to the content of your email.

Is cold email legal in the European Union (EU)?

Cold email is legal in the European Union, but you should be aware of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What does the law states

In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates commercial email, requiring businesses to obtain prior consent before sending unsolicited email to individuals.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as when the email is necessary for the legitimate interests of the sender or the recipient.

The GDPR also requires businesses to provide an opt-out option and accurate contact information in their emails.

How to comply

You can comply with the GDPR's requirements by providing a clear and concise explanation of why you are contacting the recipient and offering an easy way to opt-out.

Also, you must ensure that the emails you send are necessary for the legitimate interests of the sender or the recipient.

Is cold email legal in Canada?

Cold email is legal in Canada, but it’s more difficult as you will need to obtain explicit consent first. The law that you should be aware of is the Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

What does the law states

In Canada, the Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) also regulates commercial email, requiring businesses to obtain prior consent before sending emails, including cold emails, to individuals.

There can still be situations where implied consent is allowed, for example, if you obtain an email address from a mutual contact that already has a business relationship with the recipient.

CASL also requires businesses to include an opt-out option and accurate contact information in their emails.

How to comply

After you’ve received explicit or implied consent from the recipient, you should follow the below guidelines to stay compliant:

• State who you are with accurate contact and address information.
• Give the recipient a clear and easy way to opt out from future emails.
• Ensure that your email is relevant to the recipient.

Four tips on how to send cold emails legally

Each country has its own laws and regulations, but there are still some general guidelines that you can follow to stay compliant:

1. Only send cold emails to people that will be interested in what you have to offer

You should only send emails to people that can benefit from your product or service.

NEVER send cold emails to personal email addresses. Only send cold emails to relevant business email addresses.

Also, each cold email you send needs to be personalized to each lead.

You should not send mass email campaigns to random email lists. You need to be very specific when finding leads.

I recommend that you use our LinkedIn Email Finder Google Chrome extension to find leads and emails on LinkedIn that are relevant to your niche and offering.

2. You should make it easy for recipients to opt-out

All of your cold emails should allow the recipient to opt-out of receiving future emails.

The best way to do this in the context of cold email is to write something like “Let me know if you’d be interested in this” or “If you’re not the right person to contact about this, then please let me know or please forward this email to the right person.”

If the recipient wants to opt-out, they can simply reply with “No thanks” and you can then remove their data from your list and never email them again.

3. Have appropriate data security

It is important to keep your recipients’ data secure.

Also, if your recipients opt-out from your cold email campaigns, then you must delete their data from your database.

4. Don’t use misleading subject lines

Your subject line needs to be relevant to the content of your email.

For example, if your email is about selling a B2B SaaS product, then your subject line needs to be relevant to this.

I recommend that you read my article 40 Best Subject Lines For Cold Emails to see some examples of good subject lines that you can use.

Frequently asked questions

Final thoughts

Sending cold emails is legal, however, it is important that you understand the different laws and regulations in each jurisdiction.

An email is only defined as spam (illegal) when it has all of the following three characteristics:

1. Sent in bulk.
2. Not personalized.
3. Unsolicited.

I recommend that you send your cold email outreach campaigns with Emailchaser, since Emailchaser has built in features that allow you to personalize your emails at scale.