Understanding electronic mail marketing under the UK&#39;s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)
<p>From ICO's <a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/electronic-mail-marketing/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">guide</a> for electronic mail marketing under PECR:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>... you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:</p>
<ul>
<li>they have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; or</li>
<li>they are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Doesn't this clip entrepreneurs' wings?</p>
<p>It looks like the effect of this regulation is to prohibit entrepreneurs from marketing their service or product via cold emailing (or any other types of electronic messages, for that matter).</p>
<p>I find this greatly confusing. How can a new business (especially a tech business) find its first few customers if not by cold texting in some way or another? Does PECR force new businesses to market themselves strictly in the public domain, e.g. on social media?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>How can a new business (especially a tech business) find its first few customers if not by cold texting in some way or another?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Don’t know, don’t care. This is Law SE, not Marketing SE.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Does PECR force new businesses to market themselves strictly in the public domain, e.g. on social media?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Not at all. It prevents spam and is in line with similar laws in most of the World.</p>
<p>You can call or SMS people (unless they are in a do not call list), use conventional marketing like radio, TV, direct post but you cannot send spam email.</p>

united-kingdom privacy business email-marketing