IrelandIrish ePrivacy Regulations
Officially S.I. No. 336 of 2011, Unsolicited Communications by Automated Calling Machine, Facsimile Machine or Electronic Mail
S.I. No. 336 of 2011, reg. 13(1)-(4), (7), (10)-(12)
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since .
A commercial messages rule binding public and private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- Obtain the recipient's prior consent before sending direct marketing to an individual by automated calling machine, fax, or electronic mail, a term that reaches SMS as well as email.
- You do not need that consent to email a business or official address about the business or official activity it is mainly used for, if the message relates solely to that activity.
- Where the recipient is not a natural person (a company or other organisation), you may send automated-calling, fax, or email marketing unless that recipient has objected directly or its number is recorded on the National Directory Database's opt-out list.
- If an SMS is sent for a purpose other than marketing but includes direct-marketing content, treat it the same as a marketing message and obtain the recipient's prior consent.
- Identify yourself (and, for a call or fax, give an address or telephone number) in every marketing call, automated-calling or fax communication, or email.
- You do not need fresh consent to market your own similar products or services to an existing customer if you gave them a free, easy opt-out when you collected their details and offer one again in every later message, and the original sale was within the last 12 months.
- Never disguise or conceal your identity in a marketing email, never omit a valid address the recipient can use to stop future messages, and never send a message that breaches the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2003's sender-identification rules.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Each contravention of paragraph (1), (3), (4), (7), (11) or (12), or failure to comply with paragraph (10), is a separate offence (the sending of each unsolicited communication or the making of each unsolicited call counts separately), carrying on summary conviction a class A fine (currently a fine not exceeding 5,000 euro under the Fines Act 2010) and, on conviction on indictment, a fine not exceeding 250,000 euro for a body corporate or 50,000 euro for a natural person; there is no imprisonment term for this offence. The defendant bears the onus of proving the recipient's consent where consent is in issue.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Data Protection Commission, which investigates complaints and may bring and prosecute summary proceedings for an offence under the Regulations (regulation 26); because a breach of regulation 13 is itself an offence, it is prosecuted rather than met with an enforcement notice. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) separately monitors compliance with this regulation and may issue directions for its effective implementation.
What it reaches
Obligation class
Consent, Disclosure, Prohibition
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Regulation 13(1) requires a natural person's prior consent before sending an unsolicited communication for direct marketing by automated calling machine, facsimile machine, or electronic mail, a term the Regulations define to include an SMS message. Regulation 13(2) excludes from that consent duty an email sent to an address that reasonably appears to be used mainly for the recipient's own commercial or official activity, where the message relates solely to that activity.
Regulations 13(3) and (4) instead let a recipient who is not a natural person, such as a company, object after the fact, whether directly or through the National Directory Database's opt-out record, rather than requiring prior consent. Regulation 13(7) extends the consent duty to an SMS sent for a non-marketing purpose that itself contains direct-marketing information.
Regulation 13(10) requires every marketing call, automated-calling or fax communication, or email to identify the sender (and, for a call or fax, an address or number), and regulation 13(11) lets a seller market its own similar products to an existing customer without fresh consent if it gave a free opt-out at collection and offers one in every later message, where the sale occurred within the preceding 12 months.
Regulation 13(12) bars a marketing email that disguises or conceals the sender's identity, lacks a valid address to stop future messages, or otherwise breaches the sender-labelling rules of the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2003.
When LexLint raises it
automated_outreach
Read the law
Irish Statute Book, official text of S.I. No. 336 of 2011
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.