OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Porter Airlines has agreed to pay $150,000 as part of a settlement over violations to Canada's anti-spam legislation, plus promised to improve its compliance program, the CRTC said Monday.
The Commission investigated the regional carrier for allegedly sending some commercial emails that failed to comply with various requirements of Canada’s anti-spam legislation, including those relating to unsubscribe mechanisms, the provision of contact information and proof of consent.
Once made aware of the investigation by the CRTC, Porter Airlines was cooperative and immediately took corrective actions to comply with the legislation, the Commission continued. The company also pledged to improve its existing compliance program to ensure that its activities, going forward, are fully compliant with Canada’s anti-spam legislation, which will include increased training and education for staff and improved corporate policies and procedures.
“We appreciate that Porter Airlines took corrective action once it became aware of our investigation. The company has voluntarily entered into an undertaking and committed to comply with Canada’s anti-spam law”, said Manon Bombardier, CRTC chief compliance and enforcement officer, in the announcement. “This case is an important reminder that to be fully compliant with the law, proof of consent is required for each electronic address. Some businesses are under the mistaken impression that they are compliant with the law by relying on general business practices or policies as proof of consent for the majority of the electronic addresses to which they send their commercial emails. This is simply not the case.”
