Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation targets unwanted emails
Companies can be fined up $10 million
Canada's anti-spam law took effect yesterday.
Now, businesses and organizations can't send commercial electronic messages without the recipient's approval under Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). This includes texts, emails and social media messages.
Companies can be fined up $10 million for sending unsolicited emails.
The U.S., Australia and the UK have had anti-spam laws for years. Some analysts say the law will do little to reduce spam from overseas — where spammers can easily escape the Canadian law.
Saskatoon's Marek Majewski said he's happy to have more control over the emails he receives.
"In fact, I've already gotten a number of emails asking me to agree to promotional materials ... some of them I agree ... some I ignored."
Saskatoon resident Jennifer Coxworth is worried about how the law will impact small businesses.
"For example, my yoga class, the teacher had to send something out, you know, he had to remind everybody in the class over and over, make sure you say yes so that we can send you the schedule and cancellations and stuff," she said. "So for people like that, I think it can be perhaps difficult."
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