By STUART PARKER, corporate partner with Clarke Willmott LLP and a member of the Law Society of England & Wales, who can be contacted on 0845-2091423


WHETHER you're trying to sell products or promote a company, if your communication is directed to particular individuals the laws relating to data protection and e-marketing will apply.
Restrictions on collecting data have been in place for some time.  Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data, for example, name, address or job title.  To use personal data in e-marketing there are certain steps you should follow when collecting it.
In particular you must:
 Give your name, or that of the organisation on whose behalf you act;
 State what you will use the information for;
 Say if there is other information that you might hold or collect at a later date, how you will collect it and why; and
 If you use cookies, say what they are, and the purpose for which they are used.
You do not always have to get the customer's consent to use their personal data, but it is the safest way to ensure you can use it in the manner you want.
Consent can be implied, however, you will need explicit consent to use sensitive personal data.
So what are the golden rules for electronic marketing?
1 Don't send unsolicited electronic marketing to any individual or company who has asked you not to contact them or who has signed up to an opt-out or preference service.
2 Only carry out unsolicited e-marketing if the individual to whom you are sending the message has given explicit consent to receiving unsolicited mail.  This is referred to as "opt-in consent".
3 There is an exception to this rule known as the "soft opt-in" - where you have obtained the individual's details lawfully and the marketing message concerns only a similar product or service.
4 The customer must have a simple means of refusing unsolicited marketing in every message received.
Whenever you contact a customer, you must provide a clear statement of your identity and a valid address for the individual contact.
If sending an e-mail or text message, you should allow a reply directly to the message or encourage a short message to a special number, for example, "STOP" followed by a telephone number.
When direct marketing to companies these rules are relaxed and you need only identify yourself and provide an address.
Finally, you also need to be aware of the marketing industry codes of conduct administered by the Committee of Advertising Practice together with the Direct Marketing Association.