Will the GDPR reduce e-mail spam?

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Will the GDPR reduce e-mail spam?

Travis

11:16 am on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

Spammers (at least those who mind pretending to be legit) often hide behind the fact they claim they acquire e-mails databases legally, buy these databases, from other companies, which also acquired them legally, and so on ... and also, hide behind the fact they provide an un-subscription link, which is more or less working.

But with the GDPR, things should be more hard for them, since they'll need to prove they acquired the explicit consent for recording, and exploiting your e-mail address...

And if it's not spammers themselves, it might be brands which are being promoted through these spams which can have problems...

At least I hope so.

NickMNS

2:34 pm on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

Spammers don't care about any of this. It will actually make the situation worse or at least given the impression that it is worse. This is because the legitimate people that could potentially email will not because the compliance risk is far too high so one will be left with only pure spam. Canada (where I am from) has both strict spam email laws and strict do not call laws. Since these laws come into effect I rarely get legitimate emails or telemarketing calls, but I am flooded with spam and scams from individuals is far off 3rd world countries.

Travis

2:43 pm on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

Just received an email from Quantcast asking my explicit consent to continue sending me their newsletter,... in spite of the fact I have never received any newsletter from them, and never subscribed anywhere... so I guess they obtained my e-mail in an obscure way, stored it in their database, and are now trying to make this legitimate...

engine

2:50 pm on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

What NickMNS said. It's impossible to track down the spammers, so, expect more of their nonsense, with the ratio to legitimate declining, and spam just continuing.

My mailbox is now getting swamped by companies sending out their compliance e-mails, even for businesses I have never heard from. It's a real annoyance, and I now have a mailbox for them all.

It's worth noting that some are spammers looking to confirm a live address, so i'm not clicking on any of them.

lucy24

5:56 pm on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

�Will {insert any text string here} reduce email spam?�

No.

Travis

6:50 pm on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

�Will {insert any text string here} reduce email spam?�

But it's the claim of the EU ePrivacy Regulation :

Protection against spam: this proposal bans unsolicited electronic communications by emails, SMS and automated calling machines. Depending on national law people will either be protected by default or be able to use a do-not-call list to not receive marketing phone calls. Marketing callers will need to display their phone number or use a special pre-fix that indicates a marketing call.
[ec.europa.eu...]

Do you suggests this won stop spammers? hum... :)

Joke apart, I thought spam was already illegal in Europe, but apparently not.

LifeinAsia

7:32 pm on May 11, 2018 (gmt 0)

But it's the claim of the EU ePrivacy Regulation

The claims of government agencies are as worthless as politicians' campaign promises.

The law makers may, in fact, have intended it to reduce spam. But if there's no enforcement... And there are plenty of ways companies can hide their identity or operate to avoid legal retribution.