We have already talked about the Newsletter as a form of email marketing so that companies can inform in a recurrent and direct way by creating databases with the names of their customers in order to be able to send them regular information about the news that happen to the brand.
However, in many cases, companies are not aware of all the legal responsibilities involved in the use of email marketing applications.
In Spain, we have one of the most restrictive and complicated legislations in the world when it comes to email marketing.
This is why some companies have many doubts when it comes to legally dealing with electronic communications and the use of tools to send newsletters, promotions, information, bulletins and in general any type of communication with a marketing strategy that is carried out via email.
However, all of this is simpler than it seems. Below we will explain a little about the laws and entities that must be taken into account and give you some tips to make all of this much easier for you.
Let's start by reviewing the laws that affect us in an email marketing campaign, specifically in Spain there are two, the LOPD and the LSSI.
- The LOPD is the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data: It is the law that tries to ensure the protection of personal data, ie, if I provide my name and phone number to a company to hire a service, this law requires the company to protect my data and forbids it to market them.
- The LSSI is the Law on Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce: It is an extensive and complex law, but in practical terms, the LSSI is the law that regulates electronic communications and tries to prevent abuses and protect consumers.
Apart from laws, there are entities that we must be aware of, such as the AEPD or Spanish Data Protection Agency, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with these two laws.
So, if we embark on the use of email marketing applications, what should we take into account?
what should we take into account? With respect to the LOPD:
- Adequacy: If we handle databases, we must be in accordance with the Law, which means that we are obliged to inform the AEP that we have this personal data.
- The location: If we use an email marketing platform we are depositing all the personal data that we will use in a machine owned by the company that has created the platform and this can be dangerous if we do not know its real location, as the LOPD requires that this company complies with the security measures required by law and these security measures are not complied with in all countries. So be careful when contracting, we must be sure where the data will be physically located.
- The Data Processor: It isnot only important to take into account where the data will be stored, but also who is behind it. The company where we will deposit the data to carry out email marketing campaigns, in a mandatory manner and as defined by the LOPD, will become the Data Processor.
what should we bear in mind with regard to the LSSI?
It is one thing to protect personal data (LOPD) and quite another to communicate electronically with our "data" (LSSI), which is why it is very important to bear in mind that it is not only enough to protect our data, but we must also be careful with the way in which we communicate with them.
The most important thing is Permission: You cannot send an email without the express permission of the recipient to do so.
Logically, and in order not to be so strict, there is an exception to this, that the recipient has maintained a previous business relationship with the client and that the email that we are going to send is about products or services related to those that we hired or asked for at the time. That is, the company can only contact you by email to inform you of commercial offers similar to the business relationship that you had with them.
We hope that these tips will encourage and help you to use the practical and functional technique of email marketing correctly and avoid legal problems.
