By Simon Bravo

The Canadian government has adopted a new law to regulate commercial electronic messages sent to Canadians.

Fines for violations of this new law are significant, and, as a result, NIRSA is working hard to scrub our database and adopt business practices that will ensure our Association, and all representatives of NIRSA, are compliant with the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL).

Individual members can unsubscribe from NIRSA emails at any time or update their communications preferences through the NIRSA profile editor.

What is CASL?

Passed in December of 2010, the Canadian Anti-Spam Law generally prohibits the:

  • sending of commercial electronic messages without the recipient’s consent (permission), including messages to email addresses and social networking accounts, and text messages sent to a cell phone;
  • alteration of transmission data in an electronic message which results in the message being delivered to a different destination without express consent;
  • installation of computer programs without the express consent of the owner of the computer system or its agent, such as an authorized employee;
  • use of false or misleading representations online in the promotion of products or services;
  • collection of personal information through accessing a computer system in violation of federal law (e.g. the Criminal Code of Canada); and
  • collection of electronic addresses by the use of computer programs or the use of such addresses, without permission (address harvesting).

Beginning July 1, 2014, directors, officers, agents and mandataries of an organization can be held liable, if they directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in, or participated in the commission of a violation. The maximum amount of an administrative monetary penalty, per violation, for an individual is $1 million, and for a business, $10 million.

How does it affect NIRSA regional, state, and provincial volunteer leaders?

The Membership Department at NIRSA Headquarters is committed to keeping the communication preferences of our subscribers up to date. To remain compliant with CASL, NIRSA leaders have been given an updated policy and refined procedures for requesting and using email addresses from the NIRSA database. Going forward, regional, state, and provincial emails will be required to include disclaimer language and a working unsubscribe link in any regional mailings.

Updating your profile and indicating your communication preferences

The Team at NIRSA Headquarters is actively working on a number of fronts to improve the accuracy and reliability of the information available in our membership database. NIRSA HQ recently mailed out packets for institutional members to update their institutional profile. The packets encourage institutional contacts at NIRSA member institutions to review institutional and departmental information as well as to update the roster and contact information of individuals currently associated with their school.

Individual members can unsubscribe from NIRSA emails at any time or update their communications preferences through the NIRSA profile editor. The daily digest and real time emails that are sent to NIRSA members as part of the NIRSA Discussion Communities can be easily updated using this manage my subscriptions page.