ASA Guide to Canning Spam
15 October 2004
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has produced new guidelines to help UK consumers reduce the amount of unwanted unsolicited commercial e-mails (or "spam" messages) that they receive.
A fact sheet has been issued in acknowledgement that for many recipients spam is an increasing nuisance, clogging up their in boxes and providing an unwanted distraction from legitimate e-mails and relevant commercial messages.
Back in March of this year, the latest edition of the CAP Code - the rule book for the content of UK non-broadcast advertising, written by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and administered by the ASA - introduced the requirement that advertisers only send commercial e-mail to people who had given their explicit consent to receive it (opt-in). This requirement will be enshrined in UK law later this year with the implementation of The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002.
To help limit the number of spam messages that they receive, the ASA recommends that consumers:
Avoid displaying their e-mail addresses online. If it necessary for consumers to display their address (e.g in chat rooms or newsgroups), they may wish to consider having a second e-mail address for this purpose.
Use a unique e-mail address. The more unusual the e-mail address (e.g. js45c19mith instead of jsmith) the less likely it is that those responsible for sending spam mail will be able to identify it as a valid address when they launch a "dictionary attack" on ISPs or e-mail services.
Read privacy policies carefully. When signing up for a service, consumers should read the privacy policy of the service very carefully to see how their information might be used.
Never respond to spam messages. Even a request to unsubscribe from a database, may encourage the spammer to send further messages.
Check their ISP's filter policy. Most e-mail software has a filter functionality, which can be used to block suspect text.
Christopher Graham, Director General of the ASA, explained: "This fact sheet will help consumers to protect themselves from unwanted commercial e-mails sent within the UK. The ASA can act most effectively against spammers operating from within the UK, but when such e-mails originate from elsewhere within the EU we can refer these to our sister organisations of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) using the cross-border complaints system. Still, many of the unwanted e-mails clogging up the nation's in boxes comes from outside the EU and from advertisers whose real identities are unclear. This is the real spam problem. Together, self help and self-regulation offer a way forward, but the ASA does not claim to have all the answers."
Welcoming the publication of the fact sheet, Danny Meadows-Klue, Chief Executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Head of the SpamBusting Task Force said: "We're all fed up with spam and now its time to fight back."
Read the ASA's Factsheet on reducing unwanted commercial e-mail (spam) online.
