Law / United States / 
Washington
Commercial Electronic Mail Act, Email
RCW 19.190.010, .020, .030, .040, .050
In force.
A commercial messages rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Disclosure
What it requires
- Do not initiate, conspire to initiate, or assist in transmitting a commercial email message, from a Washington computer or to an address you know or have reason to know is a Washington resident's, that uses a third party's internet domain name without permission or otherwise misrepresents or obscures the message's point of origin or transmission path.
- Do not use a subject line that, based on your actual knowledge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances, contains false or misleading information.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text. Also read by: Brown v. Old Navy, LLC, No. 102592-1 (Wash. ) (recorded ).
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
The chapter sets no penalty of its own. RCW 19.190.030(3) declares a violation an unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, and RCW 19.86.140 sets a civil penalty of not more than $7,500 for each violation of RCW 19.86.020, which the attorney general may petition for; an enhanced penalty of $5,000 applies to unlawful acts that target or impact specific individuals or communities based on demographic characteristics.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 7,500
Statutory damages
Damages to the recipient of a commercial email message sent in violation of this chapter are $100 or actual damages, whichever is greater; damages to an interactive computer service are $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater. A violation is a per se unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 100
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Private civil action as an unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW; the Attorney General may petition for the civil penalty under RCW 19.86.140
Settledness
The Washington Supreme Court held that mere puffery is not prohibited by the subject-line provision of RCW 19.190.020(1)(b).
- As of
- Case link
- https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/1025921.pdf
- Case citation
- Brown v. Old Navy, LLC, No. 102592-1 (Wash. )
- Open questions
- Does an advertiser that hires a marketing firm to send commercial email "assist the transmission" under RCW 19.190.010(1) when it knows or consciously avoids knowing that the firm is engaged in a practice that violates the consumer protection act?
What this law does
Chapter 19.190 RCW, the Commercial Electronic Mail Act, prohibits initiating, conspiring to initiate, or assisting the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message, one sent to promote real property, goods, or services for sale or lease, from a Washington computer or to an address the sender knows or has reason to know is held by a Washington resident, where the message uses a third party's internet domain name without permission or otherwise misrepresents or obscures the point of origin or transmission path, or carries a subject line that, based on the sender's actual knowledge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances, contains false or misleading information.
Unlike the federal CAN-SPAM Act, the statute does not mandate an opt-out mechanism, a physical address, or an advertisement label. Both of its prohibitions are framed as rules against falsity or deception, the kind of state email rule that CAN-SPAM's preemption clause leaves in force while superseding the rest.
A violation is a per se unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW, and damages to the recipient are $100 or actual damages, whichever is greater (as amended by chapter 135, Laws of 2026, which applies to every action commenced on or after , whenever the cause of action arose), and to an interactive computer service $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater.
An interactive computer service may also block or filter mail it reasonably believes violates the chapter without being liable for that action. The sections this entry groups came into force on different days.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends commercial email.
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