Direct marketing messages
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| Definitions |
| “Consent” means any voluntary, specific and informed expression of will in terms of which permission is given for the processing of personal information. |
| “Direct marketing” means to approach a person, either in person or by mail or electronic communication, for the direct or indirect purpose of (a) promoting or offering to supply, in the ordinary course of business, any goods or services to the person; or (b) requesting the person to make a donation of any kind for any reason. |
| “Electronic communication” means communication by means of electronic transmission, including by telephone, fax, SMS, wireless computer access, automated calling machine, email or any similar technology or device. |
| Right to restrict unwanted direct marketing |
| Any business authorising, directing or conducting any direct marketing must implement appropriate procedures to facilitate the receipt of a demand from a person who has been approached for the purposes of direct marketing to desist from initiating any further communication (an “opt-out request”). |
| Any business authorising, directing or conducting any direct marketing must not direct or permit any person associated with that activity to direct or deliver any communication for the purpose of direct marketing to: |
| a person who has submitted an opt-out request to that business , |
| a person who has registered a pre-emptive block with a registry established by the National Consumer Commission, or |
| a person who has registered a pre-emptive block with a registry established by WASPA. |
| If an opt-out request or a pre-emptive block is specified as being limited to a particular service, or to a particular category of services, then the business may apply that block only to the services specified. If it is not abundantly clear that a limited block has been requested, then the business must assume that the block request applies to all services and all marketing. |
| A business may not charge a consumer a fee for processing an opt-out request or for registering a pre-emptive block. |
| Prohibited times for direct marketing |
| Unless a consumer has expressly or implicitly requested or agreed otherwise, a business may not engage in any direct marketing directed to a consumer on: |
| Sundays, public holidays contemplated in the Public Holidays Act, 1994; |
| Saturdays before 09:00 and after 13:00; and |
| all other days between the hours of 20:00 and 08:00 the following day. |
| Rights of consumers regarding direct marketing |
| A business may engage in direct marketing, or permit their facilities to be used for the purpose of direct marketing, to a person who has given his or her consent. |
| A business may engage in direct marketing, or permit their facilities to be used for the purpose of direct marketing, to a person who: |
| has provided the party responsible for sending the direct marketing communication with his or her contact details in the context of the sale of a product or services, and the responsible party’s own similar products or services are being marketed, and |
| has been given a reasonable opportunity to object, free of charge, and in a manner free of unnecessary formality, to such use of his or her details at the time when the information was collected and on the occasion of each subsequent direct marketing communication sent to that person. |
| A business may not engage in direct marketing, or permit their facilities to be used for the purpose of direct marketing other than as provided for above. |
| Any communication for the purpose of direct marketing must contain the details of the identity of the sender or the person on whose behalf the communication has been sent and an address or other contact details to which the recipient may send a request that such communications cease. |
| Disclosure of source of contact details |
| Upon request of the recipient of a direct marketing message, the business must, within a reasonable period of time, identify the source from which the recipient’s contact details were obtained. The business must also provide proof that the recipient has given consent to receive that message, or alternatively provide proof that the recipient has provided his or her contact details in the context of the sale of a product or service the same as that being marketed. |
| Confirmation of opt out |
| Once a recipient has opted out, a message confirming the opt-out must be sent to that recipient. This confirmation message must specify the marketing from which the customer has been opted out, and the customer must not be charged for this message. |
| Reply STOP option for SMS messages |
| If technically feasible, a recipient must be able to opt out of any further direct marketing messages sent by SMS by replying to a message with the word ‘STOP’. If this is not technically feasible then clear instructions for opting out must be included in the body of each marketing message. |
| If the words ‘END’, ‘CANCEL’, ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’ or ‘QUIT’ are used in place of ‘STOP’ in an opt-out request, the business must honor the opt-out request as if the word ‘STOP’ had been used. |
| WAP push direct marketing messages |
| All WAP push direct marketing messages must contain a short code, or some other similar means by which the recipient can easily identify the business providing the service being marketed. |
| All WAP push direct marketing messages must include instructions for opting out of any further WAP push messages. |
| The web page to which a WAP push direct marketing message links must have instructions for opting out of further direct marketing messages readily available on that page, or via one clearly identified link from that page. |
| The terms and conditions for any service initiated via WAP must be readily available via the WAP landing page. The landing page must not be designed in such a way as to obscure ready access to the terms and conditions. |
Messaging services
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| Opt-out facility |
| With the exceptions noted below, all subscription services, notification services, contact and/or dating services and other bulk SMS services (such as free newsletters) must have a functional opt-out procedure, including the option to reply ‘STOP’ to SMS messages. |
| Limitations on opt-outs |
| businesses are not obliged to honour an opt-out or block request from communications that are necessary for the conclusion of or performance of a contract to which the recipient is a party. |
| businesses are not obliged to honour an opt-out or block request for communications required by law. |
| Services billed based on messages sent to the customer |
| Services where billing is based on messages sent to a customer (examples: chat services, quiz services) may send no more than one billed message for each message the customer sends to the service. In addition, if more than 24 hours have elapsed since the customer last sent a message to the service, no billed messages may be sent until the customer sends another message to the service. |
