The rule
The regulation covers unsolicited electronic mail sent to individual subscribers.
A person must not send, or instigate the sending of, direct marketing by electronic mail unless the recipient has previously notified the sender that they consent to such emails for the time being. The soft opt-in and the charity soft opt-in are the exceptions.
The ICO says sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals, and that a company, a Scottish partnership, a limited liability partnership or a government body can be emailed.
The soft opt-in
All three conditions must hold.
- Your customer. You obtained the contact details in the course of the sale, or negotiations for the sale, of a product or service to the person.
- Similar products. The marketing is for your own similar products and services only.
- A simple way to refuse. The person was given a simple means of refusing, free of charge apart from the cost of sending the refusal, when you first collected their details and, if they did not refuse then, in each later message.
Charities
Since 5 February 2026, regulation 22(3A) gives a charity a similar route for direct marketing whose sole purpose is to further its charitable purposes.
The charity must have obtained the contact details when the person expressed an interest in those purposes or offered or provided support for them, and must give the same simple means of refusing.
The ICO guidance on electronic mail marketing is under review because of the Data (Use and Access) Act, and it still describes charity fundraising as outside the soft opt-in. This guide follows the regulation.
Where it does not apply
The soft opt-in does not cover prospective customers or new contacts, such as people on a bought-in list. They need consent.
Marketing for a product unlike the one the person bought, or for another company's products, needs consent.
There is no email version of the Telephone Preference Service.
Record it in Maqetin
Every profile has one marketing-email setting. Your app sets it with identify() when the person consents, or when the soft opt-in conditions held and they did not refuse at sign-up.
Every marketing email Maqetin sends has an unsubscribe link in its footer and the one-click unsubscribe headers.
An unsubscribe adds the address to the suppression list and turns the marketing-email setting off.
A journey email is not sent to a contact who has opted out of marketing. An email sent through the send API is transactional: it ignores that setting, and it never reaches a suppressed address.
Maqetin does not decide whether the soft opt-in applies to a contact. Your app sets the setting.
Sources
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, regulation 22, checked 27 Oct 2026
- ICO: Electronic mail marketing, checked 27 Oct 2026