OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Online dating service Plentyoffish Media has paid $48,000 as part of a settlement over violations to Canada's anti-spam legislation, plus promised to develop a new spam compliance program, the CRTC said Wednesday.
Acting on complaints, the Commission investigated Plentyoffish Media Inc. for allegedly sending commercial emails to registered users of the Plenty of Fish online dating service with an unsubscribe mechanism that was not clearly and prominently set out, and which could not be readily performed, as required by the legislation. Those emails, sent between July 1 and October 8, 2014, notified users of services available through their registration to the dating site.
Once made aware of the investigation by the CRTC, Plentyoffish Media updated its unsubscribe mechanism to comply with the anti-spam legislation, plus agreed to develop and implement a compliance program that will include training and education for staff and corporate policies and procedures.
“Plentyoffish Media erred by sending commercial electronic messages to its registered users with unsubscribe mechanisms that were not in compliance with the law”, said Manon Bombardier, CRTC chief compliance and enforcement officer, in the announcement. “This case is an important reminder to businesses that they need to review their unsubscribe mechanisms to ensure they are clearly and prominently set out and can be readily performed.”
