Is cold email legal?
Yes, for B2B, when you follow the law of the inbox you are writing into. This is the canonical Growleady page. Older overlapping posts redirect here.
United States - CAN-SPAM
The CAN-SPAM Act (2003) does not require prior consent. It requires honest headers and subjects, a valid physical postal address, identification as a commercial message where applicable, and an opt-out honoured within 10 business days. Harvested lists and dictionary attacks are out. Glossary: CAN-SPAM Act.
United Kingdom - PECR + UK GDPR
PECR’s consent rule is aimed at individual subscribers. Email to a named professional at a corporate work address is permitted with sender ID and a working opt-out. UK GDPR still applies to the contact data: we use legitimate interests and write a Legitimate Interests Assessment per campaign. We do not email personal consumer inboxes. Country page: UK lead generation.
Canada - CASL
CASL is a consent statute. Implied consent is the workable B2B basis when an address is conspicuously published and the message is relevant to the role. Every message needs sender identity (including a mailing address) and a working unsubscribe. Country page: Canada lead generation.
What we will not do
- Send from harvested or scraped lists
- Email personal Gmail/Hotmail as if they were corporate subscribers
- Ignore an opt-out on one campaign and mail them from another
Hire the cold email agency if you want this run as a program, not a blog post.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cold emailing illegal?
No - not when it is targeted B2B, identifies the sender, and honours opt-outs. US law (CAN-SPAM) permits unsolicited commercial email with those rules. UK PECR allows email to corporate subscribers with identification and opt-out. Canada’s CASL requires consent (including implied consent for published business addresses). Spam is the illegal-feeling version: harvested lists, deceptive subjects, no unsubscribe.
Is cold email legal in the US?
Yes, under the CAN-SPAM Act: accurate headers, non-deceptive subjects, a physical postal address, a working opt-out, honoured within 10 business days. Consent is not required for B2B cold email in the US. We honour opt-outs the same day.
Is cold email legal in the UK?
Yes for corporate subscribers (work addresses at limited companies) under PECR, if you identify the sender and offer an opt-out. Personal Gmail/Hotmail generally needs consent. UK GDPR still needs a lawful basis - usually legitimate interests with a documented LIA. See /lead-generation-agency-uk/.
Is cold email legal in Canada?
Only with express or implied consent under CASL. Implied consent covers conspicuously published business addresses when the message is relevant to the role, plus existing-business-relationship windows. Sender ID and unsubscribe are mandatory. See /b2b-lead-generation-agency-canada/.