Guides

Cold email laws by country

Business cold email without consent is allowed to companies in the UK, Ireland and Latvia, to generic and role-relevant addresses in France, to company mailboxes in the UAE, Egypt and Qatar, and to anyone in the US.

Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy need consent for businesses too, and Canada and Australia need express or inferred consent. Every country we cover expects you to say who you are and give a way to opt out.

Checked on 7 November 2026

Check an address

The verdict will appear here.

Country by country

Country	B2B cold email without consent	Individuals and sole traders	Existing customers	Footer must include	Regulator	Maximum fine
United Kingdom guide	Yes, to limited companies, LLPs, Scottish partnerships and public bodies, with a way to opt out.	Consent needed. Sole traders and most partnerships in England, Wales and Northern Ireland count as individuals.	Yes, the soft opt-in for your own similar products.	Who you are, a valid postal address and a simple free way to stop.	ICO	£17.5 million or 4% of worldwide turnover, for conduct after 5 February 2026.
United States guide	Yes. No prior consent is needed, B2B or consumer.	Yes. No prior consent is needed.	No exception is needed, because no consent is required.	Truthful headers, a clear sign it is an advertisement, a valid postal address and an opt-out honoured within 10 business days.	FTC	Not stated in our material.
Canada guide	Only with express or implied consent. A conspicuously published address with no refusal and a relevant pitch gives implied consent.	Only with express or implied consent.	An existing business relationship can give implied consent.	Who you are and who you send for, contact information and an unsubscribe honoured within 10 business days.	Not stated in our material.	Up to $10 million per violation for a business and $1 million for an individual.
Germany guide	No. Prior express consent is needed, for businesses too.	No. Prior express consent is needed.	Yes, for your own similar goods or services, under strict conditions.	Who you are, and in every message that they can object at any time.	Enforced by competitors and associations with warning letters (Abmahnungen).	Not stated in our material. Warning letters come with legal costs.
France guide	Partly. Generic company addresses, and named professionals when the message relates to their job.	Prior consent is needed for consumers.	Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.	Who you are and a simple way to object.	CNIL	Not stated in our material.
Australia guide	Only with consent, business addresses included. Consent can be inferred from a work address published with the owner's agreement when the message is relevant to their role.	Only with consent.	An existing relationship can give inferred consent, but not a one-off purchase or an unclear relationship.	Who authorised the message, contact details valid for 30 days and a working unsubscribe actioned within 5 business days.	ACMA	Not stated in our material.
Ireland guide	Yes, to a company's address until the company tells you to stop.	Consent needed, unless the address clearly belongs to their business role and the message is solely about that role. Sole traders count as individuals.	Yes, for your own similar products, with an opt-out, within 12 months of the sale or your last marketing email.	Who you are, a valid contact address and a way to ask you to stop.	Data Protection Commission	Not stated in our material. Each unlawful email is a separate offence.
Netherlands guide	No. Prior consent is needed for businesses too, unless the address was published specifically for commercial offers.	No. Prior consent is needed.	Yes, for your own similar products, with an opt-out at collection and in every email.	Your true identity, a postal address or phone number for stop requests, a clear commercial label and an opt-out.	ACM	Not stated in our material.
Spain guide	No. Consent is needed for company addresses too.	No. Consent is needed.	Yes, for your own similar products or services, if you got the details lawfully.	A clear commercial label, who it is sent for and an address for revoking consent.	AEPD	Up to 30,000 euros for minor breaches to 600,000 euros for very serious ones.
Italy guide	No. Consent is needed for company addresses too.	No. Consent is needed.	Yes, for your own similar products or services, if the customer was informed and did not refuse.	A commercial label from the first line, who it is sent for and an address to object.	Garante	Up to 20 million euros or 4 percent of worldwide turnover (GDPR article 83(5)).
Latvia guide	Yes, to registered companies such as an SIA or an AS.	Prior free and explicit consent is needed. Sole traders (individuālais komersants) count as natural persons.	Yes, for similar products or services if the customer did not object.	A clear commercial label, the business it is sent for, the offer and its conditions, and a way to refuse.	Data State Inspectorate	Not stated in our material. Each prohibited message is a separate breach.
United Arab Emirates guide	Yes, to a company's general mailbox (for example info@) at a business identified as a company.	No, to a named person or a personal mailbox without consent.	Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.	Accurate identification of the sender and a free way to unsubscribe in every message.	Not stated in our material.	Not stated in our material.
Egypt guide	Yes, to a company's general mailbox (for example info@) at a business identified as a company.	No, to a named person or a personal mailbox without explicit consent.	Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.	Who you are, a valid and complete address, a clear direct marketing label and a simple way to opt out.	Not stated in our material.	EGP 200,000 to 2,000,000 (article 43).
Qatar guide	Yes, to a company's general mailbox (for example info@) at a business identified as a company.	No, to a named person or a personal mailbox without prior consent.	Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.	Who sent it, a clear direct marketing label and a valid address to stop the messages.	National Cyber Security Agency	Up to QAR 1,000,000 (article 23).

Sources

PECR 2003 regulation 22(3) (checked on 3 October 2026)
UWG section 7(3), English translation (checked on 3 October 2026)
FTC CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business (checked on 3 October 2026)
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, sections 6, 10(9)(b) and 11 (checked on 3 October 2026)
CNIL, La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique (checked on 3 October 2026)
Spam Act 2003 (Cth), Schedule 2 clause 2 (Basic definition of consent), Compilation No. 10 (checked on 17 October 2026)
S.I. No. 336/2011 (Irish ePrivacy Regulations), Regulation 13(11) (checked on 17 October 2026)
Telecommunicatiewet, artikel 11.7 lid 4 (geldend van 15-08-2026) (checked on 17 October 2026)
LSSI, article 21.2 (checked on 2 November 2026)
Privacy Code (d.lgs. 196/2003), article 130(4) (checked on 2 November 2026)
Information Society Services Law, section 9(2) (checked on 2 November 2026)
PDPL, article 1 (definition of Data Subject); TDRA Regulatory Policy on Unsolicited Electronic Communications, articles 5.6 and 6.10 (checked on 2 November 2026)
Personal Data Protection Law (Law 151 of 2020), article 1 (definitions of Personal Data and Data Subject) (checked on 7 November 2026)
Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law 13 of 2016), article 1 (definitions of Individual and Personal Data) (checked on 7 November 2026)
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, section 6(1) (checked on 3 October 2026)

For developers

curl https://precleared.dev/api/v1/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recipient_email": "jane@example.co.uk",
    "sender_country": "GB",
    "pitch": "Bookkeeping software for small firms",
    "address_source": "published",
    "company_number": "01234567",
    "recipient_country": "GB"
  }'

Over MCP, call contact_check with the same fields at https://precleared.dev/mcp.

Common questions

In which countries can I cold email businesses without consent?

In our material: companies in the UK, Ireland and Latvia, generic company addresses and role-relevant professionals in France, company mailboxes in the UAE, and any recipient in the US, where no prior consent is needed.

Where is consent needed even for B2B email?

Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Canada and Australia also need consent, which can be implied or inferred in the cases their guides describe.

Does every country require an opt-out?

Every country we cover requires you to identify yourself and give a way to opt out, object or unsubscribe. The exact wording differs, so check each country's footer rules.