Email Marketing Privacy Policy

Interactive Return is a "Best Practices" organisation.  We uphold the highest industry standards in all areas of our business. We are committed to protecting the privacy of all those who interact with us, our clients and their customers, whether online or offline.

Permission Email Marketing Practices

Interactive Return is a provider of technology and services for permission-based marketing. This includes electronic mail (email). We oppose SPAM (unsolicited commercial email or “UCE”). We only deliver permission-based (opt-in) email and request that our clients engage in only permission-based marketing. Our clients must certify that they will only use our technology (software) and services to send emails to customers and prospects that have directly consented to receive email from them. They are forbidden to transmit unsolicited commercial email (spam) via our system.

Client Agreement

Our clients agree not to use our system to send unsolicited email. We also encourage our clients to respect their customers' time and attention by controlling the frequency of mailings to individual email addresses.

Our clients certify that they will not use rented or purchased lists, email append lists, or any other list that contains email addresses captured in any other method than opt-in. Interactive Return retains the right to review client lists and emails to verify that clients are abiding by the privacy and permission policies set forth herein. However, our clients are ultimately responsible for compliance with our policies.

Interactive Return reserves the right to cancel transmission of emails or campaigns if found to contradict spam, permission or privacy laws, or if any response(s) may indicate a possible breach of these laws.

Will your information ever be shared, sold or rented?

We will not share, sell, or rent individual personal information without your advance permission, unless ordered by a court of law. Information submitted to us is only available to employees responsible for managing this data, including our clients.

EU Compliance (UK and Europe) for Email Marketers

Interactive Return has further based its core privacy policy on EU Compliance requirements for email marketers. Marketers communicating with customers in the UK or Europe via email, SMS or fax must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • The recipients have provided opt-in consent.
  • There is an exception for a company’s customers, where the person’s email address was obtained as the result of a sale, but they must be offered an option to withdraw consent.
  • All email must come from a valid sender whose identity is not concealed or is in any way misleading.
  • All email communications must include a valid opt-out mechanism, not just an email address. 

For further information, the Direct Marketing Association (UK) provides an overview of the act here:
http://www.dma.org.uk/content/csm-Data.asp

You may also refer to the Information Commissioner’s website here for specific information on combating spam:
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=5801

CAN-SPAM Compliance (US) for Email Marketers

Interactive Return further ensures that it complies with CAN-SPAM in the US and Canada. While marketers are able to send commercial email on an ‘opt-out’ basis, in efforts to reduce spam, the CAN-SPAM legislation requires marketers provide additional proof of identity of sender, and emphasises a need for centralised subscription management. The main points for compliance are as follows:

  • Ensure message header information provides a proper from address and is not falsified. If you are working with an email service provider, they will handle this for you.  Most allow for you to have your company name and email address as the ‘from’ address.
  • Subject lines must relate to the message and not be misleading.
  • Allow for unsubscribe requests to be received and processed via the message reply address.
  • Process your unsubscribe requests within ten days or less.
  • Maintain a centrally managed unsubscribe list. If an unsubscribe request is received by your sales department, it is considered an unsubscribe request for all mail from your company. This is an opportunity to upgrade your subscription management processes, and ensure your sales communications and CRM systems are tied into your email marketing programs.
  • Identify commercial messages as commercial in nature. Some companies took this to mean they required a subject line prefix, such as ADV, but the current legislation merely requires that somewhere in the message it is identified as a commercial solicitation.
  • List your company’s physical address within the email, which may not be a PO Box.

To review the CAN-SPAM act, please visit:
http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/can-spam.shtml