Spam attack! Murky laws jam our inboxes

Unwanted marketing material is one of the pain points of modern life.

- JOANNA TOVIA

As retailers jostle and elbow their way into our inboxes and phones via email and text in the hope that getting our attention will elicit a purchase, many are achieving the opposite – anger rather than allegiance.

Consider this scenario: you buy a pair of shoes in a physical store, when the person ringing up your purchase asks for your email address. “So we can email you the receipt,” he explains. With one eye on easier filing of tax receipts or household budgeting, you then remember to check whether this also signs you up to receive marketing emails. You are assured that no, it’s solely for your receipt. You leave the store, purchase in hand, and don’t give the transaction another thought… until a marketing email arrives from that very same store a week later.

Hitting the unsubscribe button to newsletters and sales emails is a chore we’ve all become accustomed to... and resent.

Shades of ‘consent’

The Spam Act 2003 and Spam Regulations 2021 stipulate what marketers must do before sending us emails or texts.

Under Australian law, your consent is required before someone can send you marketing texts or emails, and it must be easy for you to unsubscribe (you shouldn’t have to log in).