What are the legal responsibilities for list hygiene?
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You're sending emails to people who signed up. That's simple. But the legal rules around how you maintain that list vary wildly by region. And they matter for your reputation, not just your inbox.
Start with the three big frameworks. CAN-SPAM in the US is an opt-out law. It doesn't care much about list quality. It cares that you honor unsubscribe requests within 10 business days and clearly identify yourself. But sending to addresses you know are fake violates ESP terms of service and tanks your sender reputation. GDPR in Europe is stricter. You need explicit consent to send, and you must prove you have it. You also have to remove data when people withdraw consent, and you can't keep inactive records indefinitely. CASL in Canada is the toughest. It requires explicit opt-in consent before you send anything commercial.
List hygiene is about maintaining accurate data, honoring unsubscribes, and respecting regional rules. That means you need to regularly clean your list (remove hard bounces), segment by consent type, and honor withdrawal requests. It's not a one-time audit. It's an ongoing process.
Check your regional compliance rules and make sure your list cleaning frequency matches your sending volume. Document your unsubscribe process so you can prove compliance if asked.
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