ePrivacy Directive
EU Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy in electronic communications. Its Article 13 requires prior consent for marketing email to individuals, with a soft opt-in for existing customers.
What it means
Article 13 sets the EU rules on unsolicited communications. Email for direct marketing is allowed only to subscribers who have given prior consent. A business that obtained a customer's email address in the context of a sale may market its own similar products or services, provided the customer can object easily and free of charge when the address is collected and in every message. Marketing email that disguises the sender's identity or has no valid address for opt-out requests is prohibited.
The consent rule applies to subscribers who are natural persons; for legal persons, member states must ensure their legitimate interests are sufficiently protected, which is why B2B rules differ between countries.
As a directive it works through national laws, such as the French rules the CNIL applies and the UK's PECR.
Related terms
Sources
What this definition rests on. The wording is ours; the facts are theirs.
- EUR-Lex: Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy), consolidated texteur-lex.europa.eu
- European Commission: Digital privacydigital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
- CNIL: La prospection commerciale par courrier électroniquecnil.fr
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