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Bulk email sent for anything other than official University purposes or to non-university members should only be sent to those who have opted to receive it. The primary concern of IS is to avoid the University being perceived as sending spam (unsolicited bulk email). If the University is seen to be sending spam, our mail hubs will be listed by various blacklisting services and we will be blocked from sending further emails by organisations which use them. This will mean that the University as a whole will be barred from sending any email to organisations or ISPs who use such listing services. Some of the listing services are very widely used so the consequences for the University would be serious. The list of addresses used should be a genuine opt-in and not an opt-out (sometimes opt-out is called a soft opt-in). If opt-in is via a web site in which the user has not given a username and password, a message should be sent to the address being added to the list requiring confirmation. This requires no effort as it can be achieved automatically using the "open+confirm" majordomo option. Mail addresses purchased or obtained from third parties should never be used for marketing purposes as it is not possible to determine whether consent has been obtained; many lists are on sale and are often inaccurately described in this respect. The sender address should be a genuine one, capable of receiving replies. These replies should be processed. In any large list, some will be "bounces" because addresses have become invalid; it is important that these are removed before subsequent email is sent. Use of invalid addresses at remote sites within bulk emailings is a common cause of blacklisting as this is used as a measeure of whether email is likely to be solicited or not. Other replies are likely to include queries about the content or requests for removal from the list for future mailings. These must be dealt with. All marketing material must include simple instructions for opting out of further mailings. The following briefly outline University and JANET regulations and legal requirements. However, these represent minimal standards. Any non opt-in bulk emailing potentially causes serious problems for the University. University regulations state in 9g of the general
conditions of use of computing and network facilities that Any person who sends unsolicited bulk
email commits a disciplinary offence, unless it is for official University purposes, or being sent to a
mailing list which has been set up with the consent of the list members and the
email is consistent with the purpose of the mailing list. Janet (the network that the University is
connected to) has an acceptable use policy which must also be followed 9.5. the transmission
of unsolicited commercial or advertising material either to other User
Organisations, or to organisations connected to other networks, save
where that material is embedded within, or is otherwise part of, a
service to which the member of the User Organisation has chosen to
subscribe The most relevant direct piece of legislation is Statutory
Instrument 2003 No. 2426, The Privacy and Electronic Communications
(EC Directive) Regulations 2003. This places restrictions on
various methods of communications for marketing purposes. Except
in certain circumstances consent must be obtained before sending
marketing email. However, merely complying with the law is
insufficient to avoid risking blacklisting if consent hasn't been
obtained. In addition to this, other legislation such as the Data
Protection Act 1998 also apply, as email addresses of individuals can
constitute personal data. The legal office website
offers advice on legal matters. Last Updated 21 Oct 2002. Please mail any comments to C.B.Bayliss@bham.ac.uk
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