implied consent. Commercial electronic messages must include certain information including an unsubscribe mechanism. Penalties are severe – up to CAD $1,000,000 for individual offenders and up to CAD $10,000,000 for a corporate offender. The first enforcement action under CASL was on March 5, 2015 and included a fine of CAD $1.1 million (USD $800,000) against Compu. finder Inc. based upon the sending of commercial electronic messages to individuals without their consent and without a functional unsubscribe mechanism. This action was followed, on March 25, 2015 with a settlement with Plentyoffish Media, Inc. for CAD $48,000 (USD $34,800) for sending commercial electronic messages to registered users and failing to prominently display the unsubscribe mechanism. It is important to note that the above actions were taken by the government through the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Provisions concerning a private right of action were scheduled to come into force in July 2017, but have been suspended in response to broad-based concerns raised by businesses, charities, and the non-profit sector. Minnesota businesses should be looking at their promotional emails, texts, newsletters, and other electronic communications that are sent to Canadian residents to see if they fit within the exemptions under CASL, or make sure that appropriate consent has been obtained. When reviewing customer and contact lists, it is also necessary to keep records showing consent. [For more information on CASL see, Frequently Asked Questions about Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation ]. OTHER COUNTRIES Global privacy law is in flux, but an overview of some of the recent global privacy happenings demonstrates that it is no longer sufficient to look to the United States and the EU for trends in privacy law; it is time to start thinking about privacy on a global scale.
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