On September 1, 2016, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) released a statement indicating that from October 2014 to December 2014, Kellogg’s Canada Inc. was alleged to have sent or caused to be sent by its third party service provider(s), commercial electronic message to recipients from whom they had not received the necessary consent in contravention of section 6(1) of Canada’s anti-spam legislation (“CASL”). Paragraph 6(1)(a) of CASL states that it “is prohibited to send or cause to be sent to an electronic address a commercial electronic message … unless the person to who the message is sent has consented to receiving it, whether the consent is express or implied.”
As a means of resolving the matter, Kellogg’s Canada Inc. voluntarily entered into an undertaking with the Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer of the CRTC whereby they have agreed to pay a sum of $60,000 in addition to agreeing to review and update their compliance program(s). Kellogg’s Canada Inc. has also undertook to ensure that their third party services provider(s) are also in compliance with the CRTC.
The statement released by CRTC provides an important reminder to all entities, including registered charities and not-for-profits, concerning the significance of ensuring they have the requisite consent prior to sending commercial electronic messages. Of note in this undertaking is that third-party service providers were also alleged to have sent commercial electronic messages on behalf of Kellogg’s Canada Inc. which were not in compliance with CASL. In this regard, charities and not-for-profits that make use of third-party service providers that send commercial electronic messages on their behalf are encouraged to determine that they are doing so in compliance with CASL, otherwise they risk the possibility of facing hefty penalties, as was the situation for Kellogg’s Canada Inc. in this case.