Guide
Is cold email legal? A country-by-country guide for B2B
The rules differ by country and by who receives the email. Each guide quotes the law or the regulator, with the date we read it.
Cold email is not legal or illegal everywhere at once. What matters is the country of the person you write to, whether they are a company or an individual (in the UK, a sole trader counts as an individual), and whether you identify yourself and let them opt out. These pages are general information, not legal advice.
In this section
- UK: is it a sole trader?Under PECR you may email UK companies and LLPs, but sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals. How to check a business in three minutes, with a decision table.
- IrelandIreland's rules for B2B cold email, quoted from Regulation 13 of S.I. 336/2011: companies, people at work addresses, people at personal addresses, and the opt-out address.
- United States (CAN-SPAM)CAN-SPAM for B2B cold email, quoted from the FTC: what every email needs, how fast to honour opt-outs, the per-email penalty, and how to give a postal address without your home address.
- Canada (CASL)Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation for B2B cold email, quoted from the Act: consent first, the conspicuous publication rule for published business addresses, and what each email must contain.
- France (CNIL)The CNIL's rules for B2B cold email in France, quoted in French with our translation: legitimate interest, a message related to the person's job, informing people, and an easy way to refuse.
- Germany (UWG § 7)Germany's UWG § 7 on cold email, quoted in German with our translation: why B2B cold email needs prior express consent, the narrow existing-customer exception, and what to do instead.
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