The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 and Bulk SMS / MMS
This page is an effort to educate TraiTel customers on their responsibilities when using electronic means to contact and promote to customers.
Isn't Spam just junk email?
When we think of Spam, we traditionally only consider unwanted emails about medicine or watches, but under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, any unwanted electronic message including SMS, MMS, or email, can be considered Spam.
OK so what do I have to do?
The 3 key elements of the UEMA 2007 require the sender of the message (that's you not TraiTel) to:
- 1) Obtain consent to contact the recipients of your message
- 2) Clearly identify yourself or your organisation as the sender of your messages
- 3) Make sure your messages have a functional method to easily unsubscribe from future contact
How do I make sure I'm covering all of those points?
Hopefully point 1 is clear: if you're broadcasting to people without any consent, you're a spammer! And you should reconsider your practices.
Points 2 and 3 can be a little more difficult to get right without adversely impacting your business or customers. The simplest way to identify yourself and provide an unsubscribe facility, is to use TraiTel's reply-paths, and process any replies you get, if you finish each message with "From Acme co. Reply STOP to unsubscribe." or a clearly abbreviated version of that, you should be compliant with the UEMA 2007.
What about Custom Sender ID? Won't that even more clearly identify us?
Perhaps, but what about replies? Remember, your customers can't reply to a word, so they can't easily unsubscribe. Also, think about the other benefits of replies, if you're a restaurant, you can take bookings by reply SMS, or if you're an electrician you can receive requests for quotes.
We only broadcast to our existing customers, so we have their consent for ever, they won't need to unsubscribe
Wrong! Even if someone signs a form one minute to receive promotions from your company for the rest of eternity, under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act, they have to be able to change their mind the next minute, and unsubscribe from those same promotions.
We don't want to comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act, what's the worst that could happen?
This isn't an unenforcable law, remember, everything leaves a trail electronically, and the penalties can be severe. The media has been covering stories lately with organisations liable for fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for violating the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act.
Also, think of your customers! If they don't want to receive your promotions, is it really worth annoying them any further? At TraiTel we consider our customers to be our primary focus, and any inconvenience to them is a potential barrier to further business.
The SPAM Act
