Commercial emails identified as advertisements where required

CAN-SPAM §5(a)(5)(B) requires commercial emails be clearly identified as advertisements unless the recipient gave prior affirmative consent to receive commercial email. Sending promotional content to all registered users — without a separate marketing opt-in — and without any This is a promotional email disclosure violates this requirement for every message. GDPR Art. 6 requires a lawful basis for processing; for email marketing to EU users, consent under Art. 6(1)(a) or legitimate interest must be established and documented. ePrivacy Art. 13 adds channel-specific requirements for electronic communications marketing.

Add an advertisement disclosure to any promotional email sent without explicit prior opt-in, or implement a proper marketing opt-in flow to eliminate the ambiguity entirely.

// Quick fix — disclosure in email header when sending without explicit opt-in
<p style={{ fontSize: '11px', color: '#aaa', marginBottom: '16px' }}>
  This is a promotional email from YourProduct.
</p>

// Long-term fix — track prior affirmative consent at signup
// <input type="checkbox" name="marketingConsent" />
// 'Send me product updates and offers (optional)'

Once all recipients have given affirmative consent (documented with timestamp and opt-in source), the disclosure label becomes optional — but best practice is to keep it. See the Consent & Opt-In category for the full opt-in implementation.