Anti-spam Policy

At WiredMAIL we hate spam as much as our customers do. We adhere to the New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, and expect all our customers to do the same. By creating an account and agreeing to our Terms of Use, you are also agreeing to this anti-spam policy.

Even if you're not operating within New Zealand, many countries have similar legislation now, and we recommend our customers follow the legislation as simply good practice.

If we discover any of our customers is using WiredMAIL for spamming, their WiredMAIL account will be shut down and they may be reported to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) Anti-spam Compliance Unit.

New Zealand Anti Spam Legislation

Companies, organisations and individuals operating within New Zealand are subject to the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, which was passed on 5 September 2007.

The UEM Act defines spam as 'unsolicited, commercial, electronic messages', and sets out the rules for sending commercial electronic messages legitimately.

The penalties for breaching the UEM Act range from formal warnings to infringement notices and court actions (with a maximum fine of $500,000 for an organisation or $200,000 for an individual). A 'spammer' could also be ordered to pay the victims compensation up to the amount of loss suffered and/or damages up to the amount of profit that was made as a result of sending the spam.

Follow the steps outlined below from the DIA website to ensure you are not sending spam:

• Make sure you have the consent of the recipients of the commercial electronic message.

• Identify the business responsible for sending the commercial electronic message and how they can be contacted.

• Include a functional unsubscribe facility in all commercial electronic messages.

Types of consent

There are three types of consent outlined in the UEM Act – express, inferred and deemed.

Express consent is a direct indication that the recipient wishes to receive messages and encompasses situations such as ticking a box on a website or a phone/face-to-face conversation.

Inferred consent is when the recipient hasn't directly instructed you to send them a message, but there is a reasonable expectation that messages will be sent. For example, the recipient provided their email address when purchasing goods and services in the general expectation that there will be a follow-up communication.

Deemed consent covers situations when someone has conspicuously published their work related electronic address or mobile number (i.e. on a website, brochure or magazine). However any message sent must still be relevant to the recipient's business.
This means that your existing client address lists and databases will need to be checked to ensure each client has consented to receiving electronic messages. Under the Act if enforcement action is taken the onus is on the sender of a message to prove consent, whether it be express, inferred or deemed.

More detailed information, including examples, is also provided in the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 Guide for businesses. The guide is available at www.antispam.govt.nz on the 'Business info' page.

However it is important to note that the guide provides general advice only. If the answer to your query is unclear you should seek legal advice, or contact the Anti-Spam Unit at info@antispam.govt.nz.