On June 14, 2016, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) released an announcement that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with 10 international enforcement agencies. The purpose of the MOU is to foster and facilitate cooperation between the 11 signatory agencies, with a view to fighting “unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications”.
The participating agencies were all part of the London Action Plan, which was a 2004 initiative involving 27 countries to address spam proliferation and related problems, such as electronic fraud and the spread of viruses. The agencies specifically involved with the MOU are the following:
- The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
- The United States’ Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission
- The Australian Communications and Media Authority
- The Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers & Markets
- The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office and National Trading Standards Intelligence Team
- The Korea Internet & Security Agency
- The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs
- The South Africa National Consumer Commission
Charities and not-for-profits that communicate with their donors or members through email, social media, or by telephone, should be aware of the move toward increased information sharing between agencies concerning the enforcement of anti-spam legislation, domestically and internationally. The current MOU reflects this trend and follows closely on the heels of the signing of a previous bilateral agreement between the CRTC and the US Federal Trade Commission on March 24, 2016, regarding anti-spam enforcement, as discussed in our April 2016 Charity & NFP Law Update.