The rules governing email distribution are very simple. As an email distributor you may principally only use our system to send emails exclusively to contacts that have explicitly given permission to do so (e.g. through double opt in). You may also send emails to contacts with whom you have a contractual relationship with and who have been made aware during registration for your services that you may send them emails and they have the right to revoke your permission. We recommend you collect user data via double opt in which you can implement with our registration forms.
If your recipients fall into the category “YES – email distribution allowed” you may use our system to email them. If your user data is of the category “NO – email distribution forbidden” no may under no circumstances distribute emails to them. Please note that when you upload your recipient data a verification by CleverReach might become necessary.
NO – email distribution forbidden
- Purchased email addresses
Purchased recipient data is strictly prohibited from our system!
- Email addresses copied from the internet
Email addresses posted on websites as contact addresses or that are displayed in open registries are not allowed.
- Single opt in
Recipients have registered via a newsletter registration form or a contact form. These contacts have not received an email with a confirmation link and were instantly added to the distribution list. No double opt in was used.
- Verbal agreement
Email addresses that have been collected e.g. via a phone conversation are not permitted. The consent to use an email address must be given in writing or digitally according to § 28 Par. 3a BDSG.
- B2B-addresses: distribution without permission
It is a widely spread misunderstanding that there is no permission needed to send emails in a B2B environment. It is in fact required by law that emails to business contacts demand consent by the recipient.
- Data from a third party
Data that has been collected by a third party is not allowed. The third party has permission to distribute emails – you do not! If the third party has collected the data in your name you are allowed to use it. In that case the third party may not distribute emails to the contacts.
- Members, clubs & unions
A contractual membership in a club or union does NOT allow you to contact the members by email. In this scenario you must also have received explicit consent from the single recipients before distributing emails.
- Social and business networks
If you have received email addresses via social or business networks such as LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook etc. you may not use those addresses for email distribution via CleverReach. You may only contact these people via the respective networks you have received the email address in. The forwarding of data such as an email address does not constitute valid permission to send emails via external systems such as ours.
YES – email distribution allowed
- Double opt in through your own website
All recipients have registered using a secure double opt in process on your website.
- Purchase of a product or service
The recipients have purchased a product or service and were explicitly made aware of the following condition: “We reserve the right to use of your data for promotional purposes to advertise similar products and services. You can recall this permission at any time, without cost other than basic rates for transmitting your request”. A note in the terms and conditions alone is NOT sufficient. In the latter case you may only advertise products and services similar to the original purchase.
- Contact via business card
Recipients that have handed you a business card to enable you to send them emails. In this case you need the business card plus written proof of permission to send emails.
- Registration via an offline form
The recipients have submitted an offline registration form and explicitly requested to be sent emails. The form must be available to prove the recipients’ request.
- Co-registration
The recipients have registered via a contest. During registration they were explicitly made aware of who the sponsor of the contest is and that they may receive emails as a consequence of their participation. No more than 10 sponsors are allowed per contest.
This is how we prevent misuse of CleverReach
- Our support team checks every single customer account. Every CleverReach customer must have their account activated by us through an audit. During this process we request detailed information on the origin of email lists.
- In general it is not possible to distribute emails to addresses that function as generic contact addresses. Such addresses are e.g. sales@..., webmaster@..., abuse@... etc. These addresses are ordinarily not associated with a single contact that has subscribed for email communication. In most cases these are company addresses whose owner can change.
- Every CleverReach customer must accept our terms and conditions and our anti-spam rules before being permitted to use our service. Distribution of emails is only possible if a customer accepts these guidelines by explicitly checking a box before every distribution.
- We offer our customers registration forms to collect new email addresses. These registration forms can be integrated on our customers’ websites. Our registration forms function exclusively with the secure double opt in method. This way unwanted receipt of emails is prevented. Every registration can be proven by information on the opt in (source, time stamp)
- All customers are required to include an unsubscribe link in every email campaign. Additionally every customer must be identifiable through a complete imprint within every email. Hiding the sender address is prohibited as well.
- Soft and hard bounces are automatically removed from distribution lists.
- CleverReach is a member of the Certified Senders Alliance and adheres to very strict conditions which must be heeded by our customers.