Guides
Can I email existing customers without consent?
Usually yes, for your own similar products, if you got the address in a sale and offered a simple way to refuse when you collected it and in every email. The UK calls this the soft opt-in.
Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Latvia have their own versions with slightly different conditions. Canada and Australia let an existing relationship imply or infer consent. The US needs no consent in the first place.
Checked on 2 November 2026
Check an address
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Country by country
United Kingdom
The soft opt-in: you got the address in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale, you're marketing your own similar products or services, and the person was given a simple way to refuse when the details were collected and in every message. All three must hold.
- PECR 2003 regulation 22(3) (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: United Kingdom guide
Ireland
Your own product or service of a similar kind, a clear, easy and free chance to object at collection and in each message, and the sale or your last marketing email within the past 12 months.
- S.I. No. 336/2011 (Irish ePrivacy Regulations), Regulation 13(11) (checked on 17 October 2026)
More: Ireland guide
Germany
You got the address in connection with a sale, you advertise your own similar goods or services, the customer hasn't objected, and you tell them clearly at collection and in every message that they can object.
- UWG section 7(3), English translation (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: Germany guide
Netherlands
You can prove you got the address from your customer in a sale, you market your own similar products or services, and the customer was offered a free, easy way to object at collection and in every message.
- Telecommunicatiewet, artikel 11.7 lid 4 (geldend van 15-08-2026) (checked on 17 October 2026)
More: Netherlands guide
Spain
A prior contractual relationship, contact details obtained lawfully, and an email about your own products or services similar to those originally contracted, with a simple free way to object in every message (article 21.2).
- LSSI, article 21.2 (checked on 2 November 2026)
More: Spain guide
Italy
The address the customer gave when buying, used to offer your own similar products or services, if the customer was informed, did not refuse and can object easily and free of charge in every message (article 130(4)).
- Privacy Code (d.lgs. 196/2003), article 130(4) (checked on 2 November 2026)
More: Italy guide
Latvia
Addresses acquired from your own customers, used to market similar products or services, if the customer did not object and is given a free way to refuse in every message (section 9(2)).
- Information Society Services Law, section 9(2) (checked on 2 November 2026)
More: Latvia guide
Canada
Implied consent can come from an existing business relationship.
- Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, section 6(1) (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: Canada guide
Australia
An existing customer relationship can supply inferred consent for marketing that relates to that relationship, but the ACMA says not to infer consent from one-off purchases or an unclear relationship.
- Spam Act 2003 (Cth), Schedule 2 clause 2 (Basic definition of consent), Compilation No. 10 (checked on 17 October 2026)
More: Australia guide
United States
No exception is needed. US federal law doesn't require consent before a commercial email, and CAN-SPAM's opt-out rules still apply.
- FTC CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business (checked on 3 October 2026)
More: United States guide
France
Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.
More: France guide
United Arab Emirates
Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.
Egypt
Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.
More: Egypt guide
Qatar
Our material for this country doesn't answer this question. See the country guide.
More: Qatar 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
What is the soft opt-in?
The UK rule that lets you email someone whose address you got in a sale or negotiations for a sale, about your own similar products, if they were given a simple way to refuse at collection and in every message.
Is there a time limit on the existing-customer exception?
In Ireland, yes: the sale or your last marketing email must be within the past 12 months. Our material states no time limit for the other countries.
Does a one-off purchase count in Australia?
The ACMA says not to infer consent from one-off purchases or an unclear relationship.
Country guides
Other questions
Decision support with sources, not legal advice.