FAQ
Cold email law: the questions agents ask
Is cold email legal in the UK?
It depends on who the recipient is. Under PECR regulation 22 the consent rule applies to individual subscribers, which includes sole traders and most partnerships. A limited company, LLP or public body is a corporate subscriber, so no prior consent is needed, though UK GDPR still applies to a named person's address: say who you are and make it easy to object. Since 5 February 2026 the ICO can fine up to £17.5m or 4% of worldwide turnover for PECR breaches.
Can I cold email a sole trader in the UK?
Not without consent. PECR treats a sole trader, and a partnership in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, as an individual subscriber, so unsolicited marketing email needs their prior consent, or the soft opt-in if they are an existing customer. The address does not tell you which they are. Precleared looks the business up on Companies House to tell a company from a sole trader. Source: ICO guide to PECR, electronic mail marketing.
What is the soft opt-in?
The exception in PECR regulation 22(3). You may send marketing email to someone whose details you obtained in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale, about your own similar products or services, provided they were given a simple way to refuse when the details were collected and in every message. All three conditions must hold.
Is cold email legal in the United States?
Yes. US law does not require prior consent for commercial email, business to business included. CAN-SPAM governs the content and the opt-out: truthful headers and subject line, the message identified as an advertisement, a valid physical postal address, and a working opt-out honoured within 10 business days. Some states add their own rules against misleading subject lines and headers.
Is B2B cold email legal in Germany?
Generally no. Section 7(2) no. 2 UWG requires the addressee's prior express consent for advertising by electronic mail, for businesses as well as individuals, and a published address does not count as consent. The exception is an existing customer under section 7(3): the address obtained in a sale, your own similar goods or services, no objection, and a clear notice of the right to object at collection and in every message. Competitors and associations can enforce this with warning letters and costs.
Can I cold email a business in Canada under CASL?
Only with express or implied consent. CASL implies consent where the recipient conspicuously published the address without a statement refusing unsolicited commercial messages and your message is relevant to their business, role, functions or duties, and where there is an existing business relationship. A bought or scraped list gives neither. The sender carries the burden of proof, so keep the receipt and the page where the address was published.
Is cold email legal in France?
For businesses, in two cases. The CNIL treats generic addresses of legal persons (info@, contact@) as outside the prospecting rules for personal data, and prospecting a named professional at a work address may rest on legitimate interest when the message relates to their profession and they were informed their address could be used and can object. Outside those two cases, electronic prospecting needs the recipient's prior consent.
Is cold email legal in Australia?
Only with consent, which the Spam Act 2003 lets you infer in limited cases: from an existing business relationship, or from a work address that was conspicuously published with the person's or organisation's agreement, provided the message is relevant to their work and the publication did not say unsolicited messages are unwelcome. Consent may not be inferred from the mere fact that an address was published, so scraped and bought lists need express consent. ACMA's 2024 statement of expectations sets out how it reads consent.
Is cold email legal in Ireland?
It depends on whether the recipient is a natural person or a company. Regulation 13 of S.I. No. 336/2011 bans unsolicited marketing email to a natural person unless they have told you they consent, and the onus of proving consent is on the sender. A company's mailbox may be emailed until the company objects. A named work address may be emailed when the message relates solely to the person's commercial activity. Each unlawful email is a separate offence prosecuted by the Data Protection Commission.
Is B2B cold email legal in the Netherlands?
Not without prior consent. Artikel 11.7 Telecommunicatiewet has required opt-in for unsolicited commercial email to companies as well as individuals since 1 October 2009, and the sender must be able to show the consent. The exception is an existing customer whose address you obtained in a sale, for your own similar products or services, with an easy way to object in every message.
Is it legal to cold email a bought list?
Rarely, and in some countries never. In Germany and the Netherlands a bought list gives no consent, so the email is unlawful. In Canada and Australia a bought list gives no implied consent. In Ireland it cannot show consent or a work address. In the UK it turns on whether each recipient is a company or a sole trader. In the US it is allowed under CAN-SPAM if the content and opt-out rules are met. Precleared takes the address source into account, so always send address_source with each check.
What must a cold email footer include?
It varies by country, which is why every Precleared check returns footer_text. In the UK and the European countries covered: who you are, a way to contact you, and a simple way to object or unsubscribe. In the US: truthful headers, the message identified as an advertisement, a valid physical postal address and a working opt-out honoured within 10 business days. In Australia: accurate identification of the sender with contact details and a functional unsubscribe facility. footer_text describes the requirement; it is not wording to paste.
How does an agent check one address before sending?
One call. POST https://precleared.dev/api/v1/check with the recipient's email or domain, where the address came from and what you are pitching, or call contact_check over MCP at https://precleared.dev/mcp. Back comes a verdict (ok_to_email, consent_needed, blocked or unknown), the rule that decided it with its source, what the footer must include, a next step and a signed receipt. Free without a key: 100 checks a day over MCP and 10 over the REST API. See https://precleared.dev/docs.
Is Precleared legal advice?
No. It is decision support with sources. Each verdict comes with the rule that decided it, the legal source quoted and linked, and a signed receipt of what was asked and answered. You decide, and you remain responsible. For edge cases, talk to a lawyer; having the rule text in front of you makes that a shorter conversation. The rules in force are at https://precleared.dev/rules and the weekly accuracy run at https://precleared.dev/accuracy.