A Quebec ticket resale company operating as 514-Billets agreed to an undertaking to resolve alleged violation of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”) between July 2014 and January 2016, as announced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) on May 1, 2018. The voluntary undertaking stated that 514-Billets had sent commercial electronic messages (“CEMs”), mostly in the form of text messages, without consent of the recipients, without providing information that identified 514-Billets as the sender, and without providing information that would enable recipients to readily contact 514-Billets in contravention of s. 6(1) and (2) of CASL.
The majority of CEMs sent by 514-Billets consisted of requests for consent for recipients to receive future commercial offers. Section 4 of the CRTC Regulations requires requests for consent to include certain information, including the sender’s name, other contact information, and a statement indicating that the person whose consent is sought can withdraw their consent. Where the number of characters is limited in the communication method, such as in text messages, s. 2(2) of the CRTC Regulations also allows for the sender to instead provide a hyperlink to a readily accessible webpage on which the required information is posted.
In recognition of having not met these requirements, 514-Billets undertook to pay $100,000 in total compensation, consisting of $75,000 in the form of $10 rebate coupons offered to 514-Billets customers, along with an additional $25,000 to the Receiver General for Canada. Billets-514 further undertook to implement a compliance program and to appoint an officer responsible for organizational compliance.
As demonstrated with the 514-Billets undertaking, CEMs can come in many forms beyond emails and phone calls, including text messages. As a result, charities and not-for-profits that are considering sending CEMs by text message or other form of CEM apart from email should consider that the requirements of CASL will apply equally. As such, while this is another instance of a for-profit corporation entering into an undertaking for alleged non-compliance with CASL, it is a reminder to charities and not-for-profits that are sending CEMs to ensure they are familiar with the requirements of CASL, which has application to electronic messages other than just email.