A reminder of current spam regulations

In France, three sets of regulations govern the fight against spam. These are Law no. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 on “Data Processing, Data Files and Individual Liberties”, Law no. 2004-575 of June 21, 2004 on confidence in the digital economy (LCEN), and European Directive no. 2002-58 of July 12, 2002 on privacy and electronic communications.

Law no. 2004 – 575 of June 21, 2004 on confidence in the digital economy (LCEN)

According to this regulation, all direct marketing, i.e. sending e-mails, faxes and telephone calls to individuals, is prohibited unless the individual concerned has given his or her consent. Otherwise, the action will be considered spam. The first approach will be tolerated if :

– prospecting is aimed at a legal entity;

– the recipient has given his/her e-mail address as part of a service or commercial transaction;

– the offer corresponds to a product similar to the one previously purchased.

Internet users who have accepted direct marketing can easily unsubscribe free of charge at any time.

Penalties for spam

Any attempt at spamming will be considered as an offence punishable by law.

According to articles L. 121-20-5 of the French Consumer Code and L. 33-4-1 of the French Post and Telecommunications Code, all commercial e-mails must include unsubscribe options that recipients can access easily and free of charge. In the event of non-compliance, article 22 of the French law on trust in the digital economy stipulates a fine of 750 euros per spam or irregular mail.

All e-mail address files created for the purpose of direct marketing must be declared to the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés) in accordance with articles 15 and 16 of law no. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 relating to “information technology, files and freedoms”. Failure to comply will result in a fine of 300,000 euros and 5 years’ imprisonment.

Any collection of e-mail addresses must be carried out in accordance with current legislation. Any fraudulent action is punishable by a fine of 300,000 euros and 5 years’ imprisonment. This is often the case with spammers who feed their databases with phishing.

International anti-spam measures

France has signed a number of bilateral agreements with several countries to combat spam. These include mutual assistance agreements with Canada in 1989, the United States in 1991, Mexico in 1994 and Brazil in 1996.

There are also the three European directives signed in 1995, 1997 and 2002:

– 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data;

– 97/7/EC on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts;

– the 2002/58 law on privacy and electronic communications.