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Is cold emailing illegal? (US, EU, Canada rules in plain English)

Concept explainers·1 min read·Updated 2026-05-16·4 sections
On this page (4)
  1. 01US (CAN-SPAM)
  2. 02EU (GDPR + ePrivacy)
  3. 03Canada (CASL)
  4. 04Tools to stay compliant

Cold email is legal in most jurisdictions for legitimate B2B purposes. The rules vary by country and the penalties for getting them wrong are real (up to €20M under GDPR).

01

US (CAN-SPAM)

Legal with accurate sender info, accurate subject line, physical address in footer, easy unsubscribe honoured ≤10 business days. No prior consent required.

02

EU (GDPR + ePrivacy)

Legitimate interest covers most B2B contact. Personal email to consumers needs opt-in. Always include unsubscribe + honour immediately. Keep retention windows short.

03

Canada (CASL)

Strictest of the three. Implied or express consent required. Business-relationship exemption for 24 months after last interaction.

04

Tools to stay compliant

Kavex public /privacy data-deletion endpoint, email verifier (avoid bouncing legit addresses), source notes per row (where data came from).

Written after running it
Last run
plumbers · London · Google Maps
Rows
30
Time
23s
Cost
€0.06
30 rows × 2 credits = 60 credits · 1 credit = $0.001

Every number on this page comes from that run, not from a price list.

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