Law / United States / 
Illinois
Illinois Electronic Mail Act
In force since .
A commercial messages rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- Do not initiate, or cause to be initiated, an unsolicited commercial email (one to a recipient with whom you have no prior or existing business or personal relationship, sent without their request or express consent) that uses a third party's Internet domain name without permission, otherwise misrepresents its point of origin or transmission path, or contains false or misleading information in the subject line.
- Establish a toll-free number or a valid sender-operated return email address the recipient of an unsolicited commercial email can use to ask you to stop, and do not sell or transfer the address of anyone who has made that request.
- Begin the subject line of every unsolicited commercial email with ADV:, or with ADV:ADLT where the message concerns goods, services or credit that only a person 18 or older may obtain.
- These duties apply where the message is delivered to an Illinois resident through an email service provider's service or equipment located in Illinois.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
A person who suffers actual damages from a violation, whether an email service provider or anyone else, may elect to recover, instead of actual damages, the lesser of $10 for each violating message or $25,000 per day, plus attorney's fees and costs; there is no action against a provider that merely transmits the message.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
A private civil action under 815 ILCS 511/10(c) and (d); the Illinois Attorney General, a violation being an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (815 ILCS 511/15).
What this law does
The Act reaches an unsolicited electronic mail advertisement: an email whose principal purpose is to promote the sale or other distribution of goods or services to the recipient, sent to a recipient with whom the initiator has no prior or existing business or personal relationship and not at the recipient's request or with their express consent.
It bars initiating, or causing to be initiated, one that uses a third party's Internet domain name without permission, otherwise misrepresents the point of origin or transmission path, or contains false or misleading information in the subject line. Those prohibitions are framed as rules against falsity or deception, the kind of state email rule the CAN-SPAM Act's preemption clause leaves in force.
The Act separately requires the initiator to establish a toll-free number or a valid sender-operated return email address the recipient can use to ask that no further such messages be sent, bars selling or transferring the address of anyone who has made that request, and requires the subject line of every unsolicited electronic mail advertisement to begin with ADV:, or ADV:ADLT for one about goods, services or credit only a person 18 or older may obtain; these duties are not framed as rules against falsity or deception.
The Act applies only where the unsolicited electronic mail advertisement is delivered to an Illinois resident via an email service provider's service or equipment located in Illinois.
A person who suffers actual damages from a violation, whether an email service provider or anyone else, may sue for attorney's fees and costs and may elect to recover, instead of actual damages, the lesser of $10 for each violating message or $25,000 per day, but has no action against a provider that merely transmits the message. The Act took effect under Public Act 91-233, and section 10, which holds its duties, was last amended by Public Act 93-199, effective .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends automated outreach.