Turning on advanced email permissions helps you keep track of the contacts you can and shouldn't be mailing to. This is especially important for customers who need to stay compliant with the Controlling Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM), Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
 | Important: Advanced email permissions are automatically turned on for our Canadian customers because they need to track both implied and express permission to stay compliant with CASL. |
When you turn on advanced email permissions, you're enabling four features that give you the ability to better track the email permissions of your contacts:
By default your contacts are either listed as "Active" or "Unsubscribed." By turning on advanced email permissions, you also see which contacts have given implied or express consent to be emailed. Under CASL, contacts with implied permission must give you express permission so you can continue sending emails to them. Under GDPR, there are instances when implied permission is fine, but it's best to document express permission from your contacts to continue sending emails to them.
For example, if you send a CASL or GDPR email template to your existing contacts, or send a Confirmed Opt-in email to new signups or existing contacts, the responses are documented as express permission, but you won't be able to see the individual contacts in the category until the advanced permissions are enabled. Until then, these contacts are only counted in the "Active" category. Once enabled, they show in both the "Active" and "Express Permission" categories.
 | Did you know? Contacts who join your mailing list through any of our sign-up tools are all automatically documented as having given express consent. |
When you upload a list, you agree that your contacts have given you permission to email them, which keeps you in compliance with Constant Contact's Email Policy. Once the advanced email permissions are enabled, you can assign implied or express permission to the entire list, which also keeps you in compliance with CASL (implied and express permission) or GDPR (express permission).
This is a handy feature to keep your contacts labeled correctly when you've been documenting express or implied permissions for your contacts in another email provider and then bringing your contacts into your Constant Contact account.
| Learn more: Want to learn more about who you can and who you can't email? Check out Constant Contact's Email Permission Policy. |
There are times when you manually add a contact here and there - for instance, when a contact has given you verbal permission to email them, or signed themselves up for your mailing list on a paper sign-up form you keep near your register. Once you enable the advanced email permissions, you can also label these contacts as having given you implied or express permission to email them while you're editing the contact information for each individual contact.
| Did you know? If you need to comply with CASL or GDPR and have multiple existing contacts, you can request express permission from your existing contacts by sending them a CASL or GDPR email template. When your contacts click the button in the email, they're documented as having given express permission to email them. |
When you take some time to make sure your contact list is compliant with the regulations that affect you, you can focus more on your email marketing, and less on spam complaints. Advanced email permissions help you keep a clean contact list that improves your email deliverability and engagement too.
If you later decide to disable advanced email permissions, it doesn't remove the implied or express permission from your contacts, it just hides it from view. Contacts listed as unsubscribed are always visible.
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