electronic mail meaning

This decision tree sets out a logical route for deciding whether you may undertake email marketing and, if so, who you can contact. It is just as applicable to text and SMS activity. Separate trees cover postal and live telephone direct marketing—see: Direct marketing decision tree—postal—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—live telephone calls—data protection. Of all marketing channels, electronic marketing is the most demanding from a regulatory perspective. You must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations 2003 (PECR 2003). PECR 2003 applies different rules to different electronic marketing methods, depending on your audience and the goods/services being promoted. You must also meet the relevant UK GDPR obligations. For more guidance, see the following Practice Notes: Direct marketing compliance—Electronic mail How to handle personal data for direct marketing Direct marketing—UK GDPR and PECR 2003 interplay What is electronic mail direct marketing? Direct marketing is the communication, by any means, of...

This decision tree sets out a logical route to assess whether you may carry out postal direct marketing and, if so, who you can target. For other types of marketing, refer to: Direct marketing decision tree—email and other electronic mail marketing—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—live telephone calls—data protection. Direct marketing is the communication—by any means—of advertising or marketing material directed at specific individuals. Note 1—personal data and corporate targets Postal marketing addressed to named individuals taken from your customer database involves processing personal data. The scope of personal data is broad enough to capture business-to-business marketing, particularly post sent to named individuals in their professional role: ‘Personal data’ covers any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person...

This decision tree outlines a logical route for deciding whether you can carry out live telephone marketing and, if permitted, who you may contact. For guidance on other forms of marketing, see: Direct marketing decision tree—postal—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—email and other electronic mail marketing—data protection. Direct marketing refers to the communication (by any means) of advertising or promotional material directed at specific individuals. Live or automated telephone calls? This decision tree is not intended for automated calls, as the rules governing automated calls are far more stringent than those for live calls. You must not make automated marketing calls to an individual unless they have given explicit consent to receive that precise type of call from you. General marketing consent, or consent applicable only to live calls, is insufficient—it must expressly include automated calls. Consequently, there is little value in a decision tree for automated marketing calls—this tree covers live marketing calls only. See Practice Note: Direct marketing compliance—Automated calls. Claims management services ...

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia (Cultural Bureau) v Costantine [2025] UKSC 9 Background to the Appeal Ms Costantine, a dual Lebanese–British national, worked for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia from 18 January 2010 to 17 January 2018. During that time, the embassy’s remit included arranging support for, and safeguarding the interests of, Saudi students studying in the United Kingdom. She started as a Post Room Clerk in the Administrative Affairs Department. In practical terms, this was a data-entry position: she handled university invoices and matched them to the appropriate student by checking the name, number and university. She did not open mail, nor did she analyse any correspondence. Although she could, in principle, have accessed a wide range of confidential material through an electronic record system, she was unaware that such access was available and never in fact used it. From 2012 to 2015, she took part in organising the embassy’s career day and its graduation ceremony. That involvement may have given her sight of...

This Practice Note This Practice Note offers a high-level overview of the data protection framework relevant to direct marketing, particularly how such activities may give rise to compliance obligations under the Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR 2003), SI 2003/2426. It is aimed at commercial organisations in the UK, with further, scenario-specific guidance signposted. The main difficulty in direct marketing is determining what the UK GDPR and PECR 2003 permit and whether consent is needed, which will differ according to the activity undertaken and the audience targeted. This Practice Note reflects the following ICO guidance: Direct marketing guidance Direct marketing using live calls Making live marketing calls about claims management services Making live marketing calls about pension schemes Direct marketing using electronic mail Guide to PECR, cookies and similar technologies Guide to PECR, what counts...

This Practice Note This Practice Note offers practical advice on direct marketing, with an emphasis on meeting the requirements of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR 2003). It addresses telephone and postal marketing, email activity, and other forms of electronic mail marketing. It also clarifies when checks against the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) or the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) are necessary. Drawing on ICO direction, it considers service messages, refer-a-friend promotions, regulatory communications, market research (including ‘sugging’—selling under the guise of research), tracking pixels, marketing databases, suppression lists and preference centres. The core difficulty with direct marketing is working out how the UK GDPR and PECR 2003 interlock; what you may do depends on your chosen tactics and the audience you are targeting. For a quick guide to whether consent is needed, see: Direct marketing decision tree—email and other electronic mail marketing—data protection Direct marketing decision tree—live telephone calls—data protection...

This How-to guide offers high-level, practical direction on direct marketing, with a particular emphasis on complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR 2003). Further detail is set out in Practice Note: Direct marketing compliance. The guide outlines principal obligations for telephone marketing, postal marketing, email marketing and other electronic mail direct marketing. It also highlights the requirement to screen against the Mailing Preference Service or the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). The guide incorporates direct marketing advice issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on service messages, refer-a-friend initiatives, regulatory communications, market research including selling under the guise of research (sugging), tracking pixels, marketing lists, suppression lists and preference centres. It reflects the ICO’s: Direct marketing guidance, and Guidance on direct marketing using live calls and Guidance on direct marketing using electronic mail Understanding the law Any direct marketing activity that uses personal data falls within the data protection...

1 Introduction 1.1 This direct marketing policy is for members of staff engaged in direct marketing activities. It offers high-level guidance on data protection law relevant to direct marketing and sets out the internal procedures we have put in place to ensure we comply with the law. 1.2 Direct marketing is significant. It is a core part of our business operations and can help our business to grow. It can also enhance the customer experience by making people aware of new products and services they may value, and by giving them opportunities to participate in events or take up offers. 1.3 That said, direct marketing can create nuisance for people and, in some instances, may even lead to distress. 1.4 We conduct our business with integrity and in an ethical way. We are committed to ensuring our direct marketing complies with the data protection regime and is undertaken responsibly. As well as supporting business growth, practising ethical direct marketing will strengthen trust and confidence in our...