Organizations need to build their CASLs: Information for non-profits and registered charities.

Posted By: Teresa Mitchell

What is CASL?

CASL stands for Canada's Anti-Spam legislation. This anagram is the unofficial name for a new law that came into force across Canada on July 1, 2014. Because it is a federal law, it will apply to not-for-profit organizations and, with some limited exceptions, to registered charities across Canada.

While the unofficial title of the Act targets spam, it is actually much broader in scope. CASL deals with commercial electronic messages (CEMs) and it regulates a broad range of activities including:

* unsolicited commercial messages such as emails, texts and tweets;

* hacking, malware and spyware;

* "phishing" and other fraudulent or misleading practices;

* invading privacy through a computer; and

* collecting email addresses without consent.

Commercial Electronic Messages

A Commercial Electronic Message or CEM is an electronic message that has as its purpose encouraging participation in a commercial activity and that is sent from or received by a computer in Canada. A "commercial activity" means a transaction or act that is of a commercial character, whether or not it is done with an expectation of profit.

Exception for Registered Charities

There is a limited exception for registered charities. Any electronic message sent by a registered charity for the primary purpose of raising funds is exempt from the provisions of CASL. However, the definition of raising funds is unclear at this time. And, if a request for donations is placed within a newsletter, or some other form of communication with the public, it may be found that the primary purpose of the CEM was not to raise funds. This limited exception does not apply to not-for-profit organizations or Registered Amateur Athletic Associations.

Consent

Consent is really the key concept to be aware of in CASL. The Act creates a permission-based scheme under which consent is required before a CEM can be sent. Consent can be either express or implied.

Express Consent

Express consent means that a recipient has voluntarily agreed to receive a CEM and this consent is documented. Consent can be either oral or in writing, and "in writing" includes both paper and electronic forms of writing. The CRTC has set out guidelines that state the information that must be in a request for express consent:

* The purpose or purposes for which consent is requested;

* The name of the person seeking consent and the name of the person ,if it is different, on whose behalf consent is asked;

* A statement indicating which person is asking for consent and which person on whose behalf consent is being asked;

* If the person seeking consent and the person, if different, on whose behalf consent is sought are carrying on business under different names, the names of those businesses;

* The mailing address, and either a telephone number providing access to a person or a voice messaging system, an email...