Guides
Can I cold email sole traders?
Not in the UK without consent. PECR treats sole traders, and most partnerships in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as individuals, so you need their consent or the soft opt-in for existing customers.
Ireland and Latvia also treat sole traders as individuals. In Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia consent is needed for businesses as well, so the answer is the same whatever the legal form.
Checked on 7 November 2026
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Country by country
United Kingdom
Sole traders and partnerships in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are individual subscribers under PECR, so unsolicited marketing email needs their prior consent, or the soft opt-in for existing customers. If you can't tell which a business is, the ICO says to treat it as an individual. Look for a company number on the website and check it at Companies House.
- PECR 2003 regulation 22(3) (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: United Kingdom guide
Ireland
Sole traders count as individuals. You need their consent, unless the address clearly belongs to their business role and your message is solely about that role.
- S.I. No. 336/2011 (Irish ePrivacy Regulations), Regulation 13(2) and 13(4) (checked on 17 October 2026)
More: Ireland guide
Latvia
An individuālais komersants is a natural person, so you need prior free and explicit consent, or the existing-customer route. Check a business at the Register of Enterprises (info.ur.gov.lv).
- Information Society Services Law, section 9(2) (checked on 2 November 2026)
More: Latvia guide
Germany
The UWG requires prior express consent for businesses as well as consumers, so a sole trader needs consent like anyone else, unless the existing-customer exception applies.
- UWG section 7(3), English translation (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: Germany guide
Netherlands
Prior consent is required for companies as well as individuals, so a sole trader needs consent like anyone else.
- Telecommunicatiewet, artikel 11.7 lid 1 (geldend van 15-08-2026) (checked on 17 October 2026)
More: Netherlands guide
Spain
The AEPD applies the consent rule whether the address belongs to a natural or a legal person, so a sole trader needs consent like anyone else.
- LSSI, article 21.1; AEPD resolution E/01853/2015 (checked on 2 November 2026)
More: Spain guide
Italy
Consent is needed for people and for companies, so a sole trader needs consent like anyone else.
- Privacy Code (d.lgs. 196/2003), article 130(1) and (2); Garante guidelines of 4 July 2013, doc. web 2542348 (checked on 2 November 2026)
More: Italy guide
Canada
CASL covers commercial messages to businesses as well as consumers, so a sole trader needs express or implied consent like anyone else.
- Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, sections 6, 10(9)(b) and 11 (checked on 3 October 2026)
- Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, section 6(1) (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: Canada guide
Australia
The Spam Act needs consent for business recipients too, so a sole trader needs express or inferred consent like anyone else.
- Spam Act 2003 (Cth), section 16(1)-(2), Compilation No. 10 (checked on 17 October 2026)
More: Australia guide
United States
US federal law needs no prior consent for commercial email to anyone, so the legal form doesn't change the answer. CAN-SPAM's content and opt-out rules still apply.
- FTC CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: United States guide
United Arab Emirates
Our UAE material doesn't mention sole traders by name. A mailbox we can't confirm belongs to a company is treated as needing consent under article 4 of the PDPL.
- PDPL (Federal Decree-Law 45/2021), article 4 (checked on 2 November 2026)
Egypt
Our Egypt material doesn't mention sole traders by name. A mailbox we can't confirm belongs to a company is treated as needing consent under article 17 of the Personal Data Protection Law.
- Personal Data Protection Law (Law 151 of 2020), article 17 (checked on 7 November 2026)
More: Egypt guide
Qatar
Our Qatar material doesn't mention sole traders by name. A mailbox we can't confirm belongs to a company is treated as needing consent under article 22 of the Personal Data Privacy Protection Law.
- Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law 13 of 2016), article 22 (checked on 7 November 2026)
More: Qatar guide
France
Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.
More: France guide
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
Can I cold email sole traders in the UK?
No. Sole traders count as individual subscribers under PECR, so you need their consent, or the soft opt-in if they're an existing customer.
How can I tell a sole trader from a company?
In the UK, look for a company number on the website and check it at Companies House. If no active company runs the site, treat the address as an individual's.
Which other countries treat sole traders as individuals?
In our material, Ireland and Latvia. In Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia consent is needed for businesses too, so the legal form doesn't change the answer.
Country guides
Other questions
Decision support with sources, not legal advice.